Starfox high school
by jcupton96
Summary: Fox and friends while in high school AU.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: The first day

It was early Monday morning. Fox McCloud was laying in his bed, dreading this day. It was the first day of his sophomore year of high school, he was excited but not excited. He reluctantly got up and groomed himself. He opened his door and walked out into the hall and into the kitchen for breakfast.

"So sweetie, are you ready for your first day?" His mother asked him. "Well I guess I'm as ready as I'll ever be." The two shared a laugh as James put the newspaper down and looked at his son saying, " Well whatever you do this year, just make sure you have fun."Fox nodded to his dad. Fox took a quick bite of toast and grabbed his backpack telling his parents, "Well im off! See you guys this afternoon!" "Bye Fox!Have a good day!" His mother said as he ran out the door.

Fox jumped into his convertible with its cover down, turned the radio up and blasted off to school.

When he arrived he coincidentally arrived the same time as Falco, "What's up Foxie? Nice ride there." Fox looked back and shrugged , "Well I woulda settled for something a little less but the old man figured I should have something good, I didn't argue and you can see why." The two laughed and walked into the school lobby to meet up with the rest of the group as usual.

They walked in to see their green amphibian friend with a grey canine waiting in the usual spot. "Bill! Slip! You guys aren't usually this early."

" Eh, it was coincidence that we all arrived this early if you ask me" Slippy said as he shrugged his shoulders. The guys stood at their usual area and talked normally until something caught Falco's eye. He looked over and saw standing by herself a blue vixen. He nudged Fox's shoulder and pointed, " There's some treasure for you right there Foxie boy."

Fox shrugged off the joke. Falco always saw it to be comical to mess with Fox about girls. " Dude I don't even know her, and I bet since she's standing there by herself she's new" Falco held up his hands defensively. Just as Fox finished talking did the first bell ring to dismiss everyone to their classes. " Great, here we go."Falco said with a grim tone.

Fox sat in his seat for his first class, algebra 2. The bell rang and everyone settled down. " Alright class settle down now, since you're sophomores and you've spent a year here im going to assume that everyone knows that they're in the right class." Just as she finished was a knock at the door and the teacher walked over and opened it.

A shy blue vixen walked in, "Hello there miss, can I help you?" The elderly cat asked the young vixen. " Ummmm, is this….Mrs. Linn's room? For algebra 2?" " Yes it is, may I ask you name?"

" I'm Krystal Cerina, I just moved here" She tried not to look around the room as the teacher looked in her role book. " Ah yes, now I see. Just take a seat over by uhhh… Fox, that young man right over there."

She pointed over at Fox over by the wall. She began to make her way over towards the open seat beside Fox as one of the boys on the other side of the room yelled out "Oooooh Fox you got it made now!" Commenting on Krystal's attractive appearance.

" Can you at least be quiet? She's new here so why don't you at least give her a decent welcome by being quiet?" Many of the others began to laugh at the comment as Krystal sat down. He turned over to her and said "Sorry about that." Her blank expression turned into a small smile that said ' thank you'. The two foxes didn't talk any after that.

After the class was over he gathered his things and headed for gym class. It couldn't be more perfect since all of the guys were in the class with him. Falco had already claimed seats on the bleachers for the guys and when he saw Fox walk in he waved him over. Not long after did Bill and Slippy walk in. " What are the odds we all have our favorite class together?" Bill asked all of his friends."Before the end of the year they're probably gonna wish they hadn't!" Falco burst out with vigor.

"Alright guys none of that" Fox said standing up as the smirk disappeared off of Falco's face. "Unless you're completely serious!" Fox said as he held his hands up for high fives.

Amid all of his cheering did he look around and see a familiar blue vixen on the other side of the gym sitting by herself. Fox felt bad to see her by herself, "Fox what's wrong man?"

Bill asked his friend. He snapped out of his trance and said "Uh- what? Sorry about that" The friends went on talking until it was time to go to their third class. Fox and slippy walked down the science hall headed for chemistry.

"Boy I've been waiting all day for this!" Slippy said happily. "I coulda waited awhile longer to be honest" The two laughed as they walked in and took their seats. As they did, once more did a familiar blue vixen walk in and sit a ways away from everyone. Just before the bell rang did a pink frog walk in and sit in the nearest seat, which so happened to be beside slippy.

Slippy's eyes lit up a little bit when he saw her, but kept it under control. Amanda turned and looked around, she decided to be friendly and said hey to Fox and Slippy. They both politely said hello back with warm smiles. Krystal remained silent, Fox expected no different. Once the class ended, Fox and slippy bolted out of their seats leaving everyone shocked at the sudden movement.

"Hurry Slip!" Fox yelled to his friend. "We gotta hurry and claim a table for lunch!" The two bolted into the lunchroom, grabbing their food as fast as they could, within reason of course. They walked outside and claimed their usual table, and before long the other two guys came and sat by them. They were all chatting it up until slippy tapped fox on the shoulder and asked him "Isn't that the new girl from chemistry?" As he pointed over to krystal, who looked like she was trying to find a place to sit.

Fox didn't know her but he knew it was terrible to sit by yourself at lunch. He got up and walked towards her. " Where's he going? Does he not know that lunch just started?"Falco said with a small smirk.

Krystal turned around and noticed Fox coming as he said " Hey, uhhh, you can sit with m-me and my friends if you want, I mean you don't have to or anything like that" he said as he gestured towards the table.

Falco put a hand over his face and whispered "smooth Fox,real smooth" the frog and canine heard him and tried not to make their laughter heard as the two foxes came and sat down.

Krystal sat down by Fox without saying a word the whole time, just listening to what the boys said. Fox and Bill remembered they had the next class together and high fived in a brotherly fashion before having to take their trays and heading for their next class. It wasn't anything special, as they expected.

At last their last class had come, now it was time for Fox and Falco to share a class, and as they sat down a feline walked in and caught Falco's eye. He whispered to Fox, "Whoa, who is that?" Fox shrugged his shoulders not knowing the answer. As soon as the class was over Falco bolted to the feline to chat her sighed, not expecting any different. Fox and the guys talked a while until it was time to go home.

Fox hopped into his blue convertible and shot back towards home. Fox walked in and Vixy turned and looked at him saying "Hey there Fox. Did you meet anyone new today?" Fox put his hand on the back of his head and said "Well I uh, think so. I sorta met this girl-" "JAMES! JAMES!" Vixy yelled throughout the house,

" JAMES! Get up here! Fox met a GIRL today!" Vixy believed Fox deserved someone nice for him to spend his time with, and even though he never did, she was never disappointed with him. James walked in with his shades and flight jacket on and was intrigued with this rare topic. " Well then Fox, how was it?"

"Uh well I sort of met her, but sort of didn't" James chuckled saying "I didn't even know you could do that"

"well what I mean is, I met her, but that's about it, I told her she could sit with us at lunch, but we didn't really talk any. Some guys said stuff about her and I stuck up for her but that's pretty much it."

"that's sweet of you honey. Was she new to the school?" Vixy asked with concern.

" Yeah she said she just moved here, but didn't say where from."

" Well if you talk to her again it looks like you have something to talk about" James told his son, "you may get on her good side, if you know what I mean" Fox turned a little red. "well uhhh…. Some guys apparently thought she looked pretty good. Aside from her blue fur she looked pretty normal to me."

Vixy looked impressed, "a blue furred vixen? With fur that color she must be gorgeous!" Just as she finished, Falco opened the door and yelled,"Im home! Sorry im late!" Fox smirked and whispered saying "Wouldn't have bothered me if you took longer" Fox and his parents laughed.

James filled in his almost second son on what they were talking about. "that blue girl? Seems nice enough, definitely a looker, but way too shy for me."

"well with the way you act around girls I don't think you have to worry about her and you." Fox said laughing as he got a punch in the arm. "you've got a toss up foxie, you're on a clean slate." Fox looked annoyed, and red, saying "Look she's nice but I don't think I see her as more than a friend, and she probably thinks the same"

"wait a second, now this just occurred to me but, do you even know this girls name if you're such good friends?" Fox paused."uhhhhh…"

Falco facepalmed," I'm out after that one, see you guys later"

once he left he told his parents "Im pretty sure her name is kristy." Everyone shrugged their shoulders and went on with the day. As he was preparing for bed Fox thought of the blue vixen. 'She's nice, I should talk to her some more, give her a good Corneria High School welcome.' He soon drifted to sleep, hopes of the new year fresh on his mind.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

" Fox sweetie, wake up! You'll be late if you take much longer!"

Vixy's sweet voice rang through the house. Fox felt groggy, as if he hadn't gotten anysleep, but that's just an average teenage morning. He got dressed and brushed his fur then went to the kitchen for breakfast. James put down thepaper and looked through his shades over to his son,

"Good morning son, are you ready for day two with your vixen girlfriend?"

he laughed lightly as his son looked embarrassed,

"Dad you know she isn't my girlfriend, as far as I know she may not even see us as friends." Vixy gave them both theirplates and said

" girlfriend or not I want you to be nice to that girl. She's new and needs friends, high school is no time to spend alone."

Fox took his mother's words to heart and decided to try and become friends with krystal, but knowing her name certainly would help. Fox finished his plate, told his parents goodbye and again ran out to his convertible and turned up the music and blasted off. Fox walked into his first class and sat down in his seat by krystal and smiled warmly to her.

She tried smiling back as he said "hey Kristy, how are you this morning?"

The small smile she had disappeared as she quietly said, "Fox, I remembered your name, don't you remember mine?" Fox had a surprised, nervous look on his face. He got her name wrong, and she remembered his without a problem!

His subconscious told him 'Youidiotyougothernamewrongandyou'retryingtobefrie ndswhattheheckiswrongwithyou-'

He quickly slapped himself out of that and tried to regain mental composure. "Gee, I-I'm sorry. I g-guess I didn't hear it r-right yesterday, uhh what is it again?" "Krystal" "R-right, sorry about that krystal. If you want you can sit with us again at lunch."

He felt that he finally caught a break when she said "That would be great, could you introduce me to your friends today?" "I saw you in the gym yesterday 2nd block, we could do the introducing and all then if you want?" She looked surprised,"Well I didn't see you, but I have something else to do in 2nd block so I wont be there today"

Fox nodded and the two went on with their class. When gym came Fox briefed his friends on the situation. Bill had no problem, Falco didn't care too much, and Slippy was excited to hear about new company.

Slippy entered the chemistry room earlier than Fox and waved at krystal then sat beside her. Fox wasn't paying attention and knocked Amanda's books out of her hands. He picked them up for her and the two went on with small talk until they reached the room. Fox sat in front of Krystal and Amanda in front of Slippy. The teacher didn't seem to mind about the seat change, most teachers liked Fox and his friends, he was pretty well known throughout the school. Krystal didn't say anything, she only looked up to see who it was that sat around her, the unexpected company seemed to make her a little more talkative and comfortable. Once the bell rang Amanda went off to take care of something, leaving Fox Krystal and Slippy. The three of them picked up some small chat on their way to the lunchroom, Krystal found it very easy to talk to Slippy, she thought that his smart talk was funny.

Once they sat down, again krystal sat down beside Fox. "So guys, this is Krystal, Krystal that's Bill, and that's Falco, don't listen to him." Krystal giggled and Falco threw a ketchup packet at Fox saying "Would you rather us go somewhere else so you and your girlfriend can have some alone time?"

After that Fox began tripping over his own words. "S-She's not- I-I mean we get along- Falco just shut up!" Krystal laughed even more when she heard Fox and saw that he was glowing red, and she could feel she had a small blush herself. When everyone's attention was on their food he leaned over to her and whispered " L-like I said, d-don't listen to him"

She grinned at Fox and said "I had a feeling you would say that" Finally lunch had ended and Krystal and Falco took their trays back inside and the avian told his new friend "Don't take that girlfriend thing personally, it's just fun to mess with Fox about girls"

She smiled at him and he said "Course I cant get on the bad side of his new girlfriend." He had a sly smirk as he said it, and she returned with a smirk of her own as she tripped him saying "Oh im sorry about that" sarcastically. He got up saying " I let that happen." She laughed at him and he said "you know,I think you're alright" The two went their separate ways.

Fox walked down the hall talking with Bill, and when he looked up something caught his eye. A familiar female rabbit walked out of the office in the same direction as the two. "It… there's no way." Fox quickened his pace and caught up to her. "Lucy?" The rabbit turned around and was overjoyed to see a familiar face. "Fox!" she ran and hugged her old friend. "Daddy told me that you went to this school, but I didn't think I would run into you this soon!" "here, let me see your schedule…. Perfect! Your next class you have with me and Bill!"

She was even happier now, "You know, this school isn't so bad" The three of them laughed as they walked to their class. The three talked and worked diligently as if they had never lost connection. The rest of the day flew by as expected.

Fox got home and as he walked in Vixy rushed up very excited asked her son how his day was. James walked up to the table and also was curious "Did you talk to Kristy any today?" Fox heavily sighed saying "well I did find out, her name actually isn't kristy. I found out actually her name is Krystal, luckily she wasn't mad when I called her the wrong name." Vixy closed her eyes "Krystal, such a beautiful name" She seemed lost in the thought of the name. "sounds like a nice young lady to not be mad about you messing up her name" James was glad to hear that there wasn't any bad blood. "I felt a little bad, she remembered mine even though I didn't remember hers. James seemed happy that his son found a new friends

Meanwhile at a familiar vixen's house: "Hello darling! How was your second day?" Her mother asked her when she and her father got up to greet her. "It was good again. Oh and I forgot to tell you guys that I met a new friend yesterday." Krystal's dad raised his eyebrow "His name is Fox McCloud, he's really nice, he introduced me to some of his friends too and they let me sit with them at lunch." "well this young man sounds like a sweet young boy to me" Krystal's mom said. "He is, maybe soon I can talk to him some more, I started to get comfortable around him and his friends today." Her parents were happy to hear of their daughter making new friends, and more than trusted her to make the right friends.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

The third day of school and halfway through first block was slow. Fox was working on his mathwork when Krystal pulled on his arm and asked him for some help.

" Hey no problem. See all you have to do here is carry this number and-" Fox was interrupted by his phone ringing. He slapped a device on his wrist and pulled out a headset with a microphone attatched and began listening to something. After it finished He looked over at the teacher and nodded. The teacher knew what it meant and she walked and took Fox's things and put them behind her desk.

He kneeled down to eye level with Krystal and told her, "Sorry Krystal but I've got some business to take care of right now. If I don't make it back I've asked one of my old friends to sit with you at lunch so you won't be alone, sometime I'll explain all of this."

He opened the door and looked at her one more time, smiled, then walked out. As soon as he walked out he took off down the hall for the front lobby. He arrived at the lobby, and soon after Bill did too, then Falco, and lastly Slippy. " Sure hope this didn't crash a date with your girlfriend" Falco said with a sly smirk. Fox ignored it as they all dashed out to his convertible and blasted off downtown.

They went down to the city docking bay and dashed inside, the lady at the counter instantly knew who they were and let them in as fast as possible. They met up with James and his comrade, Peppy.

"Gentlemen, we've been contacted to survey the mountains about 10 miles north of the city, real simple. There have been reports of strange activity out there so they called us to check it out. If we're attacked we have the right to shoot anyone down, like I said it's real simple." They all nodded in agreement.

It had been at least 2 months since all the boys came on a mission together. They all ran down the bay and jumped into their arwings, after about 5 minutes of prep, they all shot out towards the mountains. "If anything suspicious is seen, contact me or peppy and we'll investigate on foot, same goes if there's anything that shoots at you,understood?" "yes sir!" All the boys said simultaneously.

Fox privately contacted james, the troubled vulpine asked his dad, "Hey dad, will we make it back to school before lunch?" "well son I actually don't know, it depends on whether or not we find any activity. If we find little to none we'll make it back in time, don't worry you'll see Krystal." The younger vulpine saw his father smirk on the communication screen and he smirked back as they all flew off.

They flew around the mountain area for at least 45 minutes. Nothing had happened, just as James was about to tell everyone to throw in the towel, six ships descended from the clouds firing at everyone! Slippy contacted everyone frantically saying "Guys! We're under attack!" Falco looked a little annoyed and said "No dip froggie boy!"

Fox was being tailed by one of them, but was under no pressure. The aim of his enemy was lousy and wobbly, he simply did an inverted somersault, diving towards the ground and circling back up behind his enemy and shooting them down before they even realized. " It's good to be back!" He said over communicator with great vigor. "the sky belongs to me" Falco said with a smirk,downing his own enemy. " Children, please." James told them all doing an expected move. One by one the enemy fell, and after 20 more minutes of patrol the team figure it was done for the day and they headed back to Corneria city.

They all docked and headed back to Fox's convertible. James stopped Fox telling him "I've ordered some pizza and drinks for you all when you get back to school" Fox smiled to his father thanking him and they went off to school again. They blasted off towards the school blaring their favorite music laughing hard recollecting in the mission.

Back at the school, Krystal sat down at the usual table hearing her stomach rumble, 'Gee, I guess today was a bad day to forget lunch money, maybe if Fox is here he'll share some of his food, he's really nice like that.' She thought to herself. Just as she finished her thought did a beagle walk up to her with some pizzas and drinks asking her, "Excuse me miss, but is Fox McCloud here today?"She looked puzzled, "Uh well he was here, but he didn't say if he was gonna be back for lunch." Krystal could feel her stomach rumble a little more when she saw the pizzas.

"Hey!" A familiar voice shouted, "Don't you worry, I'm late but I'm here!" She turned to see Fox running over to where she and the beagle were. "Phew, just in time. Here man, let me take those off your hands." He grabbed the pizzas and drink, setting them down on the table, then took out his wallet.

"hey dude, these are already paid for." The beagle told him. "I know, don't worry." Fox said as he handed the beagle a 5 credit chip. The beagle walked off happily and Fox turned to Krystal. "shall we?" He asked her.

"you know it's a good thing that you got us pizza, I forgot my lunch money today." Fox shrugged his shoulders, "teamwork" he held up his hand for a high five and krystal returned it. Just after that Lucy walked up and noticed Fox. "hey Fox!" She said cheerfully. She looked over at Krystal and paused. She covered her mouth with a hand for a little bit then let it down saying, "Oh my gosh, you are so pretty! You must be Krystal, it's nice to meet you! I'm Lucy"

Krystal blushed a little from Lucy's compliment and said " Thanks Lucy, it's great to meet you too!" The two girls got along well and Lucy noticed the pizzas and drinks and looked at Fox as he said "That's how we do it around here" Just as he finished saying that did the other guys walk up, notice the pizzas, and simultaneously say " AWWWWW YEAAHHHH!"

They all had a great lunch pouring each other sodas and mixing them together and talking and making friends. Krystal pulled on Fox's arm and asked "Fox can you tell me why you had to leave earlier?" " I want to, but some other time, don't worry about it" He said with a toothy smile. The vixen was overcome with curiosity and thought to herself, 'is he trying to hide something? Am I falling into the wrong crowd? No way, they seem nice but…. No that's not right, they're perfectly fine.' She just felt there was no way they could be bad people.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

The next two days at school flew by pretty fast. Finally the first weekend of the school year had finally arrived. As they stood outside the guys were talking. "So Fox, we headed to your place again tonight or what?" Fox chuckled at the question, "You guys should know you don't even have to ask that."

After hanging around for a while all the guys took off in their separate ways for the time being. Around 6 all the guys started to head towards Fox's house for the night "So boys, what do you wanna do for now?" James asked, he usually spent time with the boys. All of them scratched their heads, not knowing what to do. " Why don't we start off simple and just throw the Frisbee around outside?" Slippy suggested to the rest of them. They all liked the idea, they were all pretty athletic so they decided it would be a good show for them all.

James went into the garage to look for the Frisbee as the guys all went outside to the front yard. James found it and signified it by throwing it straight out into the front yard. "there it is!" Falco shouted.

"It's mine!" Bill yelled to the others as he took off for it, only to be tripped up by Fox, who then took his place in running for the disc. "I don't think so Foxie!" Falco said as he dove and tackled Fox to the ground. This left Slippy by himself to simply jump up and snatch the Frisbee out of the air. "you guys have got a lot to learn about this game." Slippy said with a smirk.

James quietly snuck up behind slippy, grabbed the Frisbee, then proceeded to push him into the dogpile with the others. "You were saying?" He said as he spun the Frisbee on his finger. They all continued to throw it around for a while until Vixy had to call James in for a moment. As he turned to walk in he blindly threw the Frisbee out to the guys and Fox pursued it.

He jumped up to catch it without any notice of his surroundings as he headed straight for the concrete without a chance of landing on his feet. It was then that Bill yelled "Fox look out!" He couldn't tell what his canine friend was talking about at all. He tried to spin around to see what it was that Bill was yelling about but all he could make out was a figure that seemed to be another person. Before he knew it, he crashed into this other person, whoever it was, and they both hit the ground roughly.

As soon as he could, Fox stood up saying "Gee i-I'm really sorry about that" Not yet paying attention to the person. The person he hit sat up angrily saying "You really need to watch what you're doing! You could have really hurt me, and I should probably report you to-" The person stopped. Fox stopped in his tracks as he turned and saw who it was. "Krystal?" was all Fox could say.

"Fox?Ummmm…." She felt like she had done something wrong, she had just yelled at her new friend. Sure he had knocked her down but it was an accident. Fox rushed over to help her to her feet. As soon as he helped her up he began to ask questions. "W-what are you- I mean are you okay?" He couldn't believe what he had done. " Well, to answer your questions, I actually live around here, and yes I think I'm okay." She looked around her body for any cuts, but found something worse. She sighed heavily and Fox became curious.

" What's wrong?" "well, this was my favorite shirt, but our little encounter has sadly put a few rips in it. That's alright though, it was starting to get a little small anyways." Fox's ears drooped, feeling even worse about what he accidentally did. "Well if you live around here I could uhh.. maybe walk you back home if you want? I-I mean if you don't want-" She began to giggle at him, she always thought he was funny when he got nervous. Fox turned a little red at the giggle, "That's sweet of you, maybe my parents will want to meet you." Fox turned and tossed the Frisbee over to the guys and went down the street with Krystal.

James walked back out but when he did Fox was already gone, he asked where his son had gone. " Well he had an…. encounter with a friend from school, so he decided to walk her home." Bill told the older fox.

Meanwhile the two foxes were walking down the road, small talking with happy faces. Once they arrived at Krystal's house she grabbed his arm and started running towards the door. "Come on, Im sure they would like to meet you!" She opened the door and the two walked in and Krystal yelled "Hey mom and dad! This is my friend Fox that I told you about." She told them with a big smile.

"He lives around here and we had an uh.. encounter. So he decided to walk me back home." Fox stood there with a bit of an awkward smile. Her mother smiled. "that's very gentlemanly of you Fox" Her dad told him. "well it is getting a little dark out too." He said as he scratched the back of his head. He took this opportunity to inspect Krystal's shirt, and so did her mother.

"Sweetie what happened to your shirt?" Krystal looked over at Fox, Fox looked at Krystal, then looked at her parents. " Well you see, that's where our little encounter comes into the picture. Me and my friends were throwing our Frisbee, and my mom called my dad in when he had it, so he blindly threw it and I jumped after it. That resulted in me accidentally crashing into Krystal." Fox had a nervous look on his face.

" Well young man, did you know that was her favorite shirt?" her dad said with a little anger. "Daddy calm down, it was just an accident" Her dad apologized as Fox told the family " Well everyone it was nice meeting you, if you ever need anything I live down the road so if you ever need anything just call" He took his leave and krystal turned to her parents. "See? I told you he was nice!" "He does seem like a sweet young man." Krystal's mom remarked. " he does seem nice, a little clumsy though." Her father barked.

Once he returned to his home Vixy greeted him. "Where have you been sweetie?" "well you remember that girl I told you about? We had an uh, encounter and I decided to walk her home." Fox simply shrugged his shoulders as everyone ate dinner soon after his return. After dinner everyone began to leave for home. As they did Fox went to his computer, he needed to replace something.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

The next few days of school were fast and boring. Lucy liked sitting with Fox and Krystal at lunch, so she continued to. She formed a good friendship with Krystal, just as Fox had planned and imagined they would. One day after chemistry Amanda was talking to Slippy about lunch.

"Well my friends had to move away, so could I sit with you guys?" Slippy's eyes beamed with excitement. The girl he liked just asked if she could join them for lunch. "Of course you can! You're welcome any time." He said with great vigor. She smiled as she walked down to lunch with him and the two foxes.

Falco had sent Fox a message on their way to the lunch saying 'Hey foxie hope you don't mind but now Katt's gonna sit with us at lunch, if you don't like it good luck convincing her to move' Fox chuckled as Krystal asked what he was laughing at. "We'll have a full table from now on." He told his three friends.

They all happily walked down to the lunchroom, to meet all of their new friends. As they sat down they saw Falco and Katt walk towards the table. Fox looked at them with a smug smile, which Falco returned. Soon after did Bill and Lucy come and sit down.

In an attempt to start a conversation with her new friends did Lucy say "So Fox, is this pretty little Krystal your girlfriend?" Fox spewed out his drink and started to trip over his words and stutter.

"W-what? Me and K-Krystal? We a-aren't y-y'know, we're j-just- N-no she isn't my g-g-girlfriend!" He said sounding beyond nervous. Everyone let out a big laugh as he started to glow red. He looked over at Krystal, as she was also a little red. She always thought it was funny how he looked when he was embarrassed and nervous. She decided she was going rile up everyone a little.

She scooted closer to him with a big smile on her face and wrapped her tail around his waist, she knew that a little flirting would definitely make everyone laugh. Fox's face turned almost completely red when he figured out what happened and he jumped up with a small yelp brushing himself off. "What was that all about?" He said somewhat loud in an embarrassed tone. Krystal giggled, blushed, and cutely said "I don't know, it just happened" She said with a playful grin.

As he left school that day, the only thing that came to his mind was 'girls are weird'. Once he arrived home he decided to go to his parents for advice. "Well isn't that sweet Fox! She likes you!" Vixy told her son in a happy tone. "WHAT!?" fox yelled in a loud embarrassed tone. "Do bring her around sometime Fox! I would love to meet this young lady!"

Fox just couldn't catch a break today from embarrassment, James couldn't help but laugh saying "Well son, it looks like we'll be meeting your girlfriend soon"

"she's not my- ugh never mind"


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

At last the second Friday of the year had finally made it. As usual the group stood outside at the front area to talk before leaving, even the girls came this time. As Fox was looking around, he noticed that Krystal wasn't here with them. He looked around and saw her a ways away sitting by herself. Fox was curious as to why she was being so distant all of a sudden, so he decided he was gonna walk over to where she was and talk to her.

He sat down beside her on the bench and she turned to see who it was who sat beside her "Oh, hey Fox." She said in what seemed like a sad tone. "You know, since all of us are friends it isn't a problem to talk with us all like we usually do." He told her with a small chuckle. He saw a small smile begin to form on her muzzle as she said " I know, it's just…" "what is it?" he asked the vixen curiously. "it's just…I like it when it's just me and you." She said sweetly as she brushed his tail with hers. Fox could feel his face turn red and heat up.

Krystal couldn't help but laugh. "Im just kidding Fox. I just think you look really funny when you're nervous or embarrassed." She stopped brushing his tail with hers and smiled at him. Fox's blush lightened and nervously said "Oh…umm yeah."

As they stood up Krystal's parents drove up to take her home, she held her books against her chest and looked at Fox. "There's my ride, I guess ill see you Monday. Bye Fox." She walked off with a happy smile. She got into the car and looked back at Fox, he waved at her and her parents with a happy smile. Her parents happily waved back smiling.

"so Krystal are you looking forward to our trip to the mountains?" Her dad asked. She smiled saying "Yeah! I've been looking forward to it all week!" "Was that Fox back there sitting with you?" Her mother asked curiously. "Yeah, I sat there because it's fun embarrassing him and I knew he would come sit by me." "that's very considerate of him." Her dad said, trying to be more positive about Fox. "well we are friends after all." She said as they all laughed.

It was around 9 the next morning. James bust the door open to Fox's room yelling"Fox wake up! We've got an urgent call!" Fox fell out of his bed at the sudden alarm, and half awake told his dad "uhmmm right, on the way."

The others had already been contacted and met the two vulpines at the docking bay. "Alright so everyone remember the crooks from about a week ago? Well they're causing trouble again, but what makes this so urgent is that there's a family out in that area for a small vacation and we need to ensure their safety." Falco rolled his eyes, "sooooo mr. command, do we even know who this family is? "we didn't get any first names, but the last name is cerina."

Fox gasped rather loudly. "that's….that's Krystal! We gotta get out there and help!" "calm down son, we'll get there when we get there. Falco smirked, "yeah Fox, you'll have time to save your little girlfriend before too long" Peppy glared at Falco after that comment.

"Falco cut that out, this is a serious deal" the old hare scolded the younger avian. "Once we get closer we'll further detail our plan via communicators, Starfox team, move out!"

Again they all shot out of the docking bay in their arwings towards the mountains. As they closed in, Bill looked on his radar, "So far I see one person out on their own moving slowly, and two that are stationary." They figured that they made it just in time. Just before he sighed a sigh of relief did and alarm go off on Fox's radar.

"Wait a second! Seven airborne units just appeared, and three are closing in on the one, that must be Krystal! Fox said as he flew off on his own. "Son wai- gah, too late now." James couldn't believe it. "I'm sure he'll be alright, I hope he is" Slippy said unsure.

Krystal meanwhile walked through the small forest surrounding their small cabin, taking in the beauty of her surroundings. All of a sudden she heard something rustling around in the bushes nearby her. She looked over and saw a small rabbit hop out, she sighed heavily. Fox was racing as fast as he could to save her from the danger unknown to her, and him. He knew that when she stopped and the other 3 contacts did that it was time to act.

A few minutes later another bush rustled and she became a little scared. "Okay if anyone is following me please come out! It's really scaring me!" It was only about ten seconds after that three wolf men emerged from the bushes,one of them saying " She's a pretty little vixen, isn't she boys?" Krystal knew what this meant they wanted and did the only thing she knew to do, run.

She ran as much as she could until it was over. She reached a cliff and knew her only option was to jump. But how could she? It was at least a 200 foot drop! She panted hard as the men reached her, one of them smirking. "you'll be panting a lot harder when we finish with you." Krystal stood about two feet from the edge, and the wolves about seven feet away from her. "No… stay.. stay away!" She yelled, terrified. "Somebody! Anybody! HELP!" All of a sudden they heard a noise from the sky and look up.

They saw something fly over and land a ways away from where they were. "Heh, so much for your rescue. By the time that person gets here we'll be finished with the fun" She sighed, nearly in tears and looked at the sky wondering why this was happening to her. But as she did she saw something unnatural. Something was falling from the sky and was beginning to take shape.

The shape of a… person? "a…fox?" She whispered to herself. "there's no way." But it was. Landing hard on his feet in front of her was, in all his glory, Fox McCloud.

"I suggest you take a few steps back,now" He said with an angry tone. He was clothed in a flight jacket, with a green muscle shirt and cargo pants with fingerless gloves, silver combat boots hiking up to his calves, his headset, a blaster holstered around his leg and a vibrant red scarf around his neck.

All Krystal could say was "Fox…" before she passed out from relief. "you know, you guys should try and find something better to do than chasing after teenage girls." One of the wolves became angry saying "Maybe you should stop trying to interfere with my entertainment!" He threw a punch, which Fox easily caught and had a good grip on his arm.

The wolf look over at him and said "Please don't break my arm." Fox looked at him with a grim expression, simply saying "No."

The wolf yelped in pain about his newly broken arm. Fox roughly punched him in the gut, and following up with a brutal knee to the face, knocking out teeth. The other two wolves ran at Fox, he did the same and slid underneath them and swept their legs when they turned around. "Come on guys im only 16. Can't you do better than that?" One of the wolves quickly got up and whispered "Why you little…."

He ran at Fox unaware of what he was doing, and Fox simply sidestepped and tripped him up and watching him fall off the cliff, wondering what he was thinking running towards a cliff that high up. The last one ran at Fox while his back was turned still. Fox turned around in the blink of an eye and lightly jabbed him in the face, then pushed him off the cliff. He had done it, he saved Krystal from who knows what.

He walked over to where she was and sat beside her unconscious body with his legs crossed. He sat there for ten minutes until she began to stir. "Unnhhh" was all she muttered.

"W-what happened?" She said, still halfway unconscious. Fox chuckled,"I-I remember now" Finally regaining composure she sat up and looked at Fox. "Fox? Fox!" She sprang at him, wrapping her arms around his neck tightly. Fox tinted red a little bit, but in return wrapped his arms around her slender body.

She pulled back to look him in the eye. " I-I thought those men would- I mean y-you, you saved me Fox." She closed her eyes and leaned her head on his chest. "Uh, well I'm uh.. glad I could save you." He had no idea what to say exactly.

She looked him in the eye once more and said with a sincere heart, "You're my hero Fox."

"uhhhh well um, what are friends for?" He turned even more red. He pulled away and stood up, reaching out his hand to help her up.

"well im sure you want an explanation about all this. Well you see, Dad is the leader of the Starfox team, usually a team of mercenaries. In times of peace we're kind of like another branch of law enforcement."

"So wait, if you came here to help then you're-"

"That's right, im a member, and so are the other 3 guys. This isn't known to the public, only the people at the docking bay know, so I need you to keep this a secret. And yes, that's why I had to leave school last week." She smiled "well if it isn't too much, can you escort me back to where I'm staying?" He smiled as she took his arm and the two walked towards the cabin.

Fox was tinted red the whole way there. They made it back as she began to speak "well here we ar-" Fox's communicator went off on his wrist, alerting him to rejoin the team. "I've gotta go now, we'll see you again soon!" He said as he ran off waving goodbye.

Fox went home that night happy. He lie in bed thinking to himself, 'I'm someones hero.' The thought of this allowed him to easily drift off to peaceful sleep.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Finally the first week of October had come. A month of school had painfully come and gone. Fox was walking down the hall towards the front of the school and saw Krystal a little bit ahead of him. He hadn't seen her much this week so he took the first chance he had to talk to her.

"Krystal!" He called out to her. She turned to the familiar voice and cracked a smile. "Hey Fox! I haven't gotten to see you much this week." "No kidding, it's bothered me a little bit." Krystal looked down with a sad looking face. "Yeah….it's bothered me too." "Don't worry though, I've got something to make up for it." She looked up with a curious look on her face.

" Tonight we're gonna get the whole group together at my house and watch movies!" Krystal's face lit up at this remark.

"That would be marvelous! I would love to!" Fox smiled at her. "Oh and Fox? Can you carry my books?" She handed to them as he held them with one arm. She then wrapped her arms around his free one as they walked along with Fox tinting red, looking nervous as usual. Falco looked over and saw the two and he started to they arrived he told them " You know, I knew this would happen."

As usual Fox stuttered and tripped over his words as Krystal giggled along. Not long after did Krystal's parents arrive. Before she left she turned around "Oh, Fox…" She pulled out a piece of paper and scribbled something down on it. "Here's my phone number, call me sometime?" Fox flushed red a little, "Uhhhhh…" was all he could find to say. She playfully pushed him. " I don't mean it like that!" Fox snapped out of his trance "Uhm, right! I'll come get you when it's around time."

She smiled and walked off, and when she got into the car with her parents she told them that Fox would be coming by to help them bring in the new furniture they bought.

They had all planned to meet at Fox's house at 6, but Krystal left before Fox told everyone the plan. Around 4 Fox called Krystal to tell her the plan she didn't hear. "Hello?" The vixen said in a confused tone, likely because of the unidentified number. "Hey Krystal, it's Fox." Her tone quickly changed. "Oh! Hey Fox! What's up!?" "I just called to tell you the plan for tonight, I'll head to your place around-" " That's really nice of you to volunteer to help us move in our new furniture! I'll see you in a little bit! Bye!" "Wait I never- 'sigh' I guess that's a typical girl. Hey mom! I've gotta go help move in furniture at Krystal's house!"

With that he began his walk down to Krystal's house, then stopped and thought to himself. He turned to his blue convertible and thought to himself, 'time for a little payback'.

He jumped in and turned the key, he loved to hear the motor rev and feel it hover off the ground. He blasted off as usual, but slowed down soon after since Krystal lived nearby. He pulled up slowly and turned it off and walked up to the door. He knocked and not long after did Krystal answer saying " It's so sweet of you to come help us move this furniture in." "Yeah,well….thanks."

She grabbed his hand and led him inside. "Daddy! Fox is here now!" The older blue fox came into the room grinning saying " Well Fox I sure hope you're ready to have your arm muscles pumping" Fox chuckled, "I guess I'm as ready as I'll ever be, let's do this." Her dad patted him on the back saying "That's the right attitude!"

The two vulpines walked outside to the truck outside as Krystal's mom walked up behind her daughter saying "He seems to be doing better with Fox now doesn't he?" Krystal nodded.

It took about 45 minutes to unload their new couch, coffee table, and two recliners. " thank you very much for coming to help Fox, now before you go I need you to answer a question for me. Did you choose to come help or did Krystal make you?" Fox paused for a moment

" Uh well yeah she sorta fast talked me, but if I had known that you guys had new furniture ahead of time I would have come to help, I wouldn't want to unload all of this on my own, so I don't think anyone else should have to either." Krystal's dad smiled, "You know you're an alright kid McCloud. Now just make sure you don't get on Krystal's bad side, she can be pretty feisty. Now it's only about a quarter until 5 so you can either hang around here or you can ask Krystal if she wants to meet your parents, you've done your part with me so the rest of the day is up to you."

Fox smiled, and the blue vulpine smiled back. "thanks mr-" The older fox held up a hand "Just call me Rick." Fox continued "Thanks rick, uh well my mom asked me to go get some stuff from the store earlier and I was wondering if it was alright if I took Krystal with me." Rick shrugged his shoulders, " Like I said, the rest of the day is up to you."

Just then Krystal walked out and Rick said "perfect timing, Krystal you're headed out with Fox now." As he said that the vulpine and vixen headed for the convertible when Krystal stopped.

"This is your car?" "Yeah it sure is, is something wrong?" "No…but your car is awesome!" The two foxes ran to it as Fox jumped in without opening the door and Krystal did the same. They drove off and Fox had a big grin on his face. As soon as they were out of the neighborhood and in the city streets, his grin grew even bigger.

"Fox, why are you grinning so much?" He couldn't help but laugh, "Well you remember how you fast talked me into helping your dad move that furniture?" She nodded and noticed that all the streets were empty. "well uh, it's payback time"

And just as he said that did he stomp the pedal and the convertible shot off at high speed. "Fox! What are you doing!?" She sounded scared almost. Fox could only yell "WOOOOOOOHOOOOOOO!" As they flew down the roads freely. They were approaching a wall at at least 85 MPH as Krystal yelled "FOX THERE'S A WALL THERE!" And as fast as lightning he pulled a U-turn throwing up all sorts of dust and particles at the wall they passed. Amid her terrified screaming, Krystal couldn't help but laugh at how much fun this was.

They came to a vacant parking lot and Fox pulled a donut that covered nearly all of the parking lot, he turned and saw Krystal throw her hands in the air while she laughed and laughed even more himself. As he looked at the clock he saw that it was now 5:15, so he decided it was time to head back home so James and Vixy could meet Krystal.

Once they returned to Fox's house she looked at him and said "Never do that again" he grinned, trying to hold back a laugh. Before they went inside she grabbed his hand with both of hers. "Are you sure your parents will like me?" "Of course they will! It's not like we're boyfriend and girlfriend so it wont be a huge deal." He gave her a reassuring smile as he opened the door.

"Mom! Dad! We've got company!" They walked to where Vixy was, and when she turned to them she gasped. "Fox sweetie, she's gorgeous! How long have you two been together? Why didn't you tell us?" Fox's face flushed red. "Mom! She's not my girlfriend! This is Krystal, one of my friends!" He told his mom with an embarrassed tone. "Oh, well still, I think you're a beautiful young lady Krystal." "thank you Mrs. McCloud."

Just after she said that did James walk in and notice the blue vixen. "Hello there miss, who might you be?" "Hi mr McCloud, I'm Krystal, Fox's girlfriend"

Fox's eyes widened as his face turned red. He spewed his juice into the sink while the other three laughed at his reaction. "im just kidding, we're only friends. He just looks funny when he's embarrassed." Vixy looked at Krystal and told her " Sweetie you can just call me Vixy and my husband's name is James."

After that Fox and Krystal went to the living room to decide what movies to watch. After they did Fox decided to sit on the love seat waiting on the others. Krystal sat down beside him and cutely said to him, "Mind if I sit here?" she snuggled up to him and this time Fox knew how to fight back against her flirting.

"I'm alright with that if you're alright with this" He said as he snaked his arm around her and put his hand on her side. Krystal was shocked at this, but decided she was going to make him cave first.

"Ooh it looks like my hero has learned a few new moves." She said in a flirty tone as she scooted closer.

'She'll cave any minute now' Fox thought to himself. At this point they were so close together that their legs began to touch.

"Got any other moves I should know about?" She asked in a cute tone. "Just a few" He said as he began to rub her side. "Purrrrrr" she muttered. Fox had finally found her weakness. "What was that?" he said as he began to tickle her.

"Fox stahahahah! Dahahah hahaha don't dahahaha thahahahahhhaa!" "What was that? I couldn't understand you." "Stop. Now" She said in an angry tone. "Uhhh…sorry about that."

"I'm sorry too." She said, still sounding angry. "Sorry for this!" Now it was her turn to tickle him without stopping. He tried to tell her to stop, but it came so sudden he couldn't get a word out. Something suddenly made her stop.

In an attempt to push her away, Fox blindly reached out to push her. Once he did and got a grip on her, he grabbed something…..soft?

Fox wasn't paying attention when he reached out so he thought nothing of it until he saw Krystal's face. It was glowing red, even through her blue fur. " What's the matter Kryst-" Was all he could say until he saw what he had a grip on.

In his attempt to stop her, he had accidentally grabbed her left breast. Now his face began to glow red. "Uhhhhhhh….." Was all he could find to say while he took his hand off of her.

" uhhhhh Krystal im sorry that I uhhhh, I mean it was an accident that, I-I mean, I mean I didn't mean t-to y'know…." Fox began to sweat in nervousness.

She too was still red and looked uncomfortable. "Krystal I would never – I –I mean if you wanna maybe go home to get away from me- I mean this! Or if you wanna get away from me I totally understand!" The blue vixen took a moment to think the situation over.

"Fox I understand that it was an accident. I know you wont do it again, how about we just keep this between us and forget it happened?" Krystal's blush began to fade. "Y-yeah no problem. I-I mean I totally didn-" "I know Fox, I told you we're okay." She said as she scooted up to him. Fox scooted back and lightly pushed her away some. "Let's have some space to make sure something like that doesn't happen again."

Krystal paused for a moment, then grinned. "I knew you would cave first."


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

James and Vixy could overhear the supposed flirting from the two teens. The two older foxes walked into the room and saw the two moved a bit apart, but still looking intently at each other, and whether the two teens noticed it or not, they had begun to move together again. James noticed Fox stretched his arm around Krystal and then looked at his wife grinning. She nodded at her husband and turned to Fox,

"Fox honey, cam you come look at something outside?" Fox took his arm off of Krystal and got up. He followed his parents out to the back yard leaving Krystal alone.

Fox turned and saw James with his arms crossed and a smug grin on his face. "What?" he said, completely confused.

"We've heard you two in there, and are you sure you're just friends?" James said, picking at his son. "Honey if you like her you can tell us, it's okay if you do." Fox stopped to ponder the events that just happened to think all of it over, hoping that his parents didn't know what caused them to temporarily stop.

"I…. I don't know what all that was. It's weird, I was just doing that to try and make her cave before me but…. It seems like there's more to it." Fox was puzzled until his mother opened the door and his father put his hand on his shoulder and said "Trust your instincts." And shoved him back into the house.

Just as Fox stumbled back into the house did the doorbell ring, as Fox answered it all he could say is "Great, now you're here" sarcastically. "Right right, and why am I not surprised your little girlfriend is here before everyone else?" Falco said smugly.

"Just how many times do I have to tell you?" The bird chuckled as he went and high fived Krystal as a way of saying hello. Soon after did all the others arrive and take their seats.

"Thanks for inviting us here Fox! Sometime dad wants to come so he can catch up with mr james and mrs vixy!" Lucy told her long time friend.

"I'm sure mom and dad would like that too" Fox went and put in a scary movie for the first one. Krystal shuddered. "No Fox, please don't put in a scary movie." Fox grinned slyly after he put it in and sat down beside her. He scooted close to her and put his arm around her then whispered in her ear, "Don't worry, Ill protect you." She gave him a flirty smile and scooted closer.

The others noticed and chuckled to themselves. When Katt noticed she scooted close up to Falco.

Krystal became scared at one point and started to squeeze Fox's hand, he couldn't help but chuckle and pull her close to try and comfort her.

After the movies everyone decided to take their leave. As she left Falco yelled "Catch ya later Katt!" She waved goodbye to him and flashed him a smile. He turned around and held up a fist feeling he had won a victory tonight.

Slippy yawned, "Yeah I'll see you guys later!" The toad walked out as his dad pulled up. "Bye Krystal!" Lucy walked up and hugged her best friend goodbye. As everyone else left Krystal looked at Fox and said "Well I guess it's my turn now." Fox held up a finger telling her to hold on. He went to a back room, then shortly came back. "ready to go?" he asked as he opened the door for her. As she walked out she grabbed his paw and pulled him out.

The two foxes walked paw in paw, looking very much like a happy couple. Fox was completely unaware of what was going on. The two made it back to Krystal's house and stood outside. Krystal turned to Fox, taking his paws in hers. "I had a really great time tonight Fox." She said in a sad but happy tone. "You make it sound like we went on a date." He laughed and she playfully hit him. "Oh shut up!" she said while she laughed and hugged him.

He returned the hug, holding her as close as he could. Not long after did Krystal's mother come out to take out some trash. The two quickly sprang apart.

"Oh! ummm, sorry kids, I didn't mean to interrupt anything." Krystal blushed when her mother went inside and Fox pulled her back into another hug. "Sorry about that" she whispered. She wanted Fox to stay, she didn't care if they were only friends, she liked this feeling.

All of a sudden she started to grin. "Hey Fox?" They pulled back some to look at each other in the eye with their arms still around each other. "What is it pretty girl?" he said calmly as she blushed. "Fox, how about a kiss?"

Fox turned a little red, trying to keep himself calm. "Uhhhhhh….. well umm. I-I guess since we're really good friends it isn't a problem I guess…." He slowly and hesitantly leaned towards her right cheek. She leaned back slightly and told him "No, not there." He leaned back and put two and two together.

The only thought that came to mind was 'uh oh'.

He lit up completely red and began to sweat bullets from being so nervous. "Uhhhhhhhhh…. I'm uh, I mean we're good friends but- I hope you-" she cut him off.

"Fox im just kidding. My people are telepaths and my powers are starting to develop. I needed a way to test them out, they go in and out so sometimes I can read thoughts and sometime I cant. I understand if it's a lot to take in."

Fox was awestruck. "It's okay, I think it's kinda cool." He smiled at her. "Well I gotta go in now, bye Fox!" they hugged once more and fox began his walk home.

As he walked home, the events of the day with her came in like they had just happened. Shocked and pondering his own actions, all he could think to himself was, 'What happened tonight?'


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

It was a smooth day at school. It had been a few days since the night at Fox's house and everything was smooth sailing. Until Thursday, it was then Fox had some bad news.

He stood outside Krystal's house, his head hung. He knew she wouldn't like this, but it had to be done. He was clothed in his uniform from when he saved her. He almost didn't have the will to knock on the door. He stood there for at least fifteen minutes without moving. Finally he knocked on the door, and a few minutes later it was answered by his cheerful friend.

Her face lit up when she saw him, "Hey Fox! My parents will be home soon if you wanna stay for dinner." Fox's ears had been drooped, but when she answered the door as cheerful as she did, they perked back up a little, but he still couldn't shake the feelings of sadness.

"I…. I would love too Krystal, but… i…. I cant." She was puzzled, "Fox my telepathy isn't present right now but I can tell something's wrong. Why can't you stay?"

He sighed heavily. "I'm… I'm going away Krystal."

"W-what!? Why?!"

"We've…..received a mission over on Katina with Bill's uncle. And…and we don't know how long we'll be gone." She was taken aback by this, as tears began to form in her eyes and she could feel a lump in her throat.

"I….. I understand." Now it was her turn for her ears to droop. "I didn't want to have to tell you but I figured it was better than just disappearing all of a sudden." He put his hands on her shoulders. "But ill still try my best to talk to you as much as I can while I'm gone." She tried to smile, but was having a hard time doing so. He pulled her into a caring hug, she liked his hugs and he knew it.

"I'm gonna miss you Fox, a lot." A tear began to fall down her face.

"I'm gonna miss you a lot too Krystal." He tightened his hug on her, and she did the same. He pulled back with his arms still around at her and looked at her and finally realized what was going on.

As he looked her in her sapphire eyes only one thought came to mind, and was all he could think, 'Wow, she's beautiful.' He finally figured out what was going on with him. He realized it at one of the worst possible times, but he liked Krystal, he liked her a lot.

"Krystal, I have something I want you to have, it's really special to me."

"I'll take care of it Fox, I promise." He began to untie the vibrant red scarf around his neck.

"This is my favorite scarf, it's gone a lot of places with me and it means a lot to me." He clasped her hands and opened them. "I want you to have it now" He put it in her hands.

"Fox I-I cant take you-" He held up a hand "It's not mine anymore, it's yours." He closed her hands on it and pushed them back towards her.

"Ill take care of it fox, I promise I will. I wont let anything happen to it" He smiled that smile that drove her crazy, and she too began to understand these feelings.

Fox's communicator went off, alerting him that he needed to leave. He sighed, "Well Krystal, until we meet again." He waved goodbye one last time and ran off until he was out of sight.

She brought the scarf to her face and closed her eyes. 'it smells just like him' she thougt to herself. A tear of happiness rolled down her face as she smiled. She had never been so interested in a boy, until now.

She opened her eyes and said to herself, "He thinks im beautiful."


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Krystal had been quiet. It had been weeks that Fox and the guys had been gone. No Falco, no slippy, no bill, and for her, the worst of all, no Fox. All of the girls were a little quiet without the guys. They missed them, it felt like years waiting on them to return. Krystal sat in class thinking about fox.

"Fox mccloud…" She said to herself a few times. She pictured his smile that could light up the whole lylat system and the thought made her smile.

"Hey krystal. What are you smiling at?" a confused Lucy asked. Krystal snapped out of her trance. "Oh uh…. Ummm…nothing really." The other girls hadn't been told abot Krystal's feelings yet, but they all figured that it was coming sooner or later. She had thought about him as much as she could while he was gone. It was the previous day that he had called her for the first time, it had been two weeks after he left that he finally made it around to it

" We don't know how much longer it will be, I hope you're doing good."

That was all he said. Krystal felt heartbroken. The first time in weeks she had heard from him, and that's all he said to her. She felt mad at him, but she just couldn't stay mad at him. A day later and Lucy is asking her what she's thinking, and the answer is the same thing that she's been thinking of for the past two weeks. As usual, she was early to the lunch table outside, and in her routine, put her books down on the table. The memory of her feelings when she heard from Fox were fresh in her mind, and she felt upset and sad as she put them down. He didn't know when they would be back, meaning she didn't know when she could finally see him again. She sighed a heavy sigh as she put down her books. Just as she looked up she saw someone walk into the lunchroom

"Slippy?" she said out loud. There's no way that could be right, just yesterday Fox said he didn't know when the guys would be back. Just before she could think anything else did she get a tap on her shoulder and as she turned around her breath was taken away. There stood the one she had missed and thought of so much for the past two weeks.

"Fox!" She yelled and leapt at him, her arms wide open for a hug. "Oof!" he said as the sudden impact surprised him. He held his arms out for a little bit and to her surprise, he peeled Krystal off of him lightly. "It's good to see you too" he said lightly. She took his paw and led him to the table exclaiming that he needed to tell her all about Katina. He took her paw off of his, and again she was surprised at this behavior. "Later, I've got some stuff I have to go take care of, but when school's over I want you to come home with me, I've got a surprise for you." He smiled slightly and walked off.

Krystal couldn't believe it, finally she had him back, but just as fast he was gone again. She felt hurt, she wanted to feel happy but she couldn't, not with how things had gone so far. She wasn't happy, and her friends could tell throughout the day. Whenever they asked what was wrong she just said she didn't want to talk about it, and they didn't hassle her further about it. The end of the day had come and she despondently walked out to the front. Once she reached the group she stood there watching as Amanda talked to slippy, Katt to falco, and Lucy to Bill. She sighed heavily as she wondered what was going on with Fox.

Just as she thought of him, did he show up and say "Are you ready to go?" She had forgotten about going with him, but she nodded and they went off. They arrived at his house and she noticed that Fox pulled out his phone and messaged someone. "Who was that?" he grinned at her, "You'll see." As he walked in his mom and dad smiled at him happily, and then they saw Krystal. The smiles faded a little, luckily for them she didn't notice.

They went straight to his room and he turned on his computer. He pulled something up and she noticed that he was video calling somebody on….Katina?

Once she call was answered she saw on the computer screen, a very attractive brown vixen.

"Hey Fox! Who is this with you?" Fox smiled and told her "This is Krystal, my best friend. Krystal, this is Fara, my girlfriend."

With those last two words, Krystal's world shattered into millions of pieces. She couldn't find a word to say. She just wanted to get away from here. She faked receiving a message from her parents and said she had to leave. "Bye Fara, it was nice meeting you." She lied. She left with her backpack and books and when she thought she was out of view of the house, she ran.

She ran all she could, as fast as she could. "Stupid Fox" She said as she cried. How could he? Just before he left he gave her his favorite scarf, she thought he thought something of her, something more than a friend. She heard him think that she was beautiful, but now, now this happened. It's as if all the feelings that seemed to exist then had vanished when he left for Katina.

She came home and threw her things on the floor and locked herself in her room. She lay on her bed crying, for hours. Her parents came home and heard some noise and noticed it was coming from her room. Krystal's mom knocked on the door

"Krystal, honey? Can you open the door?" She did, with tears all over her face. "Honey! What's wrong?!" her mother came in and they sat down. " it's 'sniff' it's….." Was all she could say before exploding in tears again and whining.

"Shhh shhh honey, just tell mommy about it." She said hugging her troubled daughter. "It's Fox mom. I thought he liked me, but when he wanted me to go to his house today 'sniff' he got on video chat and 'sniff' he introduced me to his girlfriend on Katina" This caused her to explode in tears again. Krystal's mom couldn't believe it, she herself thought fox liked Krystal. Apparently not though.

"B-but I'll be okay I guess 'sniff' you always told me not to get hung up on a boy" She lied about being okay, she knew it would be some time before she recovered from this. She decided just to be by herself for the day. The part that made her the saddest is that in two weeks was the homecoming dance, she had hoped that herself and Fox could go together. But she knew that now that was out of the question.

She woke up the next day, still feeling the tears of the previous day. 'How could he though? She lives on another planet' she sighed to herself and decided she had better get used to the way it was. Now he was out of her reach so she needed to get over it. She saw him come in to the first block class and tried not to look distressed as he talked to her.

He was wondering why she was acting a little different, but he figured that it was just that it was a bad morning for her so he thought nothing of it. Much to her huge relief, today they got a call in from James, so she got to go the day without him.

She sat down at lunch with the other girls looking sad. "Krystal what's wrong?" Amanda asked her friend. She sighed then looked up at the girls and asked them "Did you guys know that Fox has a girlfriend now?" the other 3 gasped.

"B-but you and Fox are supposed to be together!" Lucy said. She quickly covered her mouth, noticing she said what she was thinking. "Don't worry Lucy, we all think that." Katt told everyone. Krystal looked up surprised,

"Is it really that obvious that I like him?" They all nodded, "I really thought he liked you too, then he comes back and…." Lucy stopped knowing if she continued only bad things would happen.

"I really wanted to go to homecoming with him, but I guess that's out of the question now." She said. "Well don't worry about it girl! You'll be fine!" Katt told her friend. She tried to smile through it all. "Yeah you don't need him to be happy!" Amanda seconded Katt.

She believed them. She went on through the day happy, not caring a speck about Fox, he was like a distant memory to her, or was he?


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

It had been 3 days since the guys had made it back, it was Saturday night and the upcoming Friday was the homecoming dance. Krystal had made it along fairly well adapting to Fox being off the market. It troubled her still, but not nearly as much as the day she found out about it. It was cool outside and the stars lit up Corneria's night sky. 'it looks nice outside, I think I'm gonna go for a jog' She took her ipod with her and set it on one of her favorite songs.

She had made it down to Fox's house and noticed the vulpine was outside, on the phone with somebody. Just as she saw it and noticed who he was talking to did a song that described the situation come on

(_ You're on the phone with your girlfriend she's upset, she's going off about something that you said, cuz she doesn't get your humor like I do_.)

Krystal took it upon herself to walk to his house and see what was going on. She could tell he wasn't happy.

"Okay good! I like that idea! See ya never!" She caught him saying.

(_Im in my room it's a typical Tuesday night, listening to the kinda music she doesn't like, and she'll never know your story like I do_.)

She had hardly talked to him since he got back, and she figured now would be a good time to see him, he seemed distressed.

(_She wears short skirts I wear T shirts, she's cheer captain and im on the bleachers_)

He sat down on the porch swing and sighed heavily. She walked up the porch steps to where he was. He felt that someone had come up to him so he looked up and saw her.

"Hey Krystal. What are you doing here?" "I was out for a jog, and I saw you up here. I could hear you a little bit and you sounded distressed." She sat down beside him on the porch swing. "What's wrong?" He leaned back and breathed out.

"Well I've been with this girl for about three weeks and all this week it's been drama back to back every day. I'm tired of it so….. I dumped her."

Krystal's heart began to beat ever faster at this news that she was overjoyed to hear. She was so happy, she should have known that it wasn't going to last long, she just never thought it would be this short.

"Oh Fox, I'm so sorry." Fox smiled a little. "Nah don't be, it's not a problem. She's over on Katina, there wasn't much here for me anyways besides phone calls so there's not much loss."

(_dreaming about the day when you wake up and find that what you're looking for has been here the whole time!_)

He felt happy when Krystal was around him. "At least now I can get back to the things that really matter to me." Krystal raised an eyebrow and looked him in the eye. "Like what?" He smiled at her and likewise looked her in the eye. "Like my best friend!" He said as he reached over and pulled her to him, pulling her into a hug.

She laughed and closed her eyes with her head on his shoulder. It had been weeks since she got a hug from him, and now she finally got it. The old Fox was back, and she loved it. He pulled back and looked at her again and looked at her sapphire eyes. 'What have I been doing this week?' he thought to himself. He had forgotten it completely, but now had been reminded that he liked Krystal. And this reminded her, she did need Fox to be happy.

(_cant you see that im the one who understands you? Been here all along so why cant you see? You belong with me_.)

And Fox needed her to be happy. "Well it's getting a little late, I need to be headed home. Bye Fox, hope you feel better!"

He watched as she walked off and thought to himself 'so long as you're around, ill always be better'


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Finally homecoming week had started, it was on. Monday was rockstar day, and boy were Fox and the guys pumped for that. They had been pumped for this all year, and were happy about the mission on Katina not interfering with the week. Fox threw on some tight jeans with plenty of rips and a tight black sleeveless shirt, and a red bandanna around his head and he was ready to go. He ran out to the convertible and turned up some old rock music to compliment his attire.

Vixy looked at her husband after Fox left and said "If I didn't know any better I would have thought he was a real rockstar." The married couple laughed together thinking of how their son's day would go.

Once he arrived he saw that the rest of the group had beat him there, Bill looked over to Fox and got the attention of the rest of the guys and they said in unison "AWH YEAH!" He ran over for high fives seeing that they were all in similar rockstar attire. Soon after the girls arrived and were also in rockstar clothes, not as much as the guys but you could tell the difference between their usual clothes. Katt put her arm on Falco's and told him "Those tight clothes bring out your muscles a lot." Krystal walked up to Fox and whispered in his ear "same for you" Fox felt a chill go through his spine suddenly.

She walked off to go and do something. 'What was that? I like her I know, but…..am I nervous?' He thought to himself. He snapped out of his trance as he headed for class.

As he sat down for class he was wondering where she was. He was eager to see her, but still nervous. She came in and took her seat by him and smiled over at him. He shyly waved back and tried to hide his face, which made her giggle.

At lunch he was nervous to sit by her. He went and sat by Falco out of cowardice. "What's up with the new seating chart?" He sarcastically asked the vulpine.

"Uh….. um I uh…. I'm nervous about Krystal." Falco looked at slippy as he reluctantly handed the bird five credits. Fox covered his face with a hand and mumbled "Why am I not surprised?" Slippy shrugged his shoulders

"We knew it was coming at some point." Falco nudged Fox " Come on man you cant do that, if she's into you then no worries!" "Well I mean, I don't know if she is." " Alright if you're gonna be like that then do whatever you want" Soon after Krystal came and sat down and looked at her empty seat where Fox usually sat, then looked at Fox and patted the empty seat.

'How can I resist those puppy eyes?' he thought as he looked in her sapphire eyes. He changed seats quickly and Krystal whispered "That's better". And she began to stroke his sleeveless arm fur. He began to breath heavily and feel nervous. She asked him what was wrong and said he just felt a little tired. "Fox, don't try lying to a telepath, I can sense you aren't tired." He forgot about her telepathic powers. "I don't really know what it is honestly." She could sense he was telling the truth and let it go. Oddly enough, after that it was silent between the two, she herself felt a little nervous now all of a sudden.

On the way to the front of the school she caught Fox in the hall. "Fox you've been acting a little strange today, is something wrong?" Fox turned a little red and knew she may have started to catch on.

"D'um nothing's wrong, just feeling a little off today" 'why cant my telepathy channel in right now of all times?' she thought to herself.

The two walked along in an awkward silence, neither of them knowing what exactly to do. 'Maybe I should ask her to the dance Friday? No,no that's way too direct.' He thought to himself.

'I'm sure he'll ask me to the dance soon.' Krystal thought to herself.

Yet neither of these thoughts were met in the walk to the front. After 15 minutes of hanging out outside the school did everyone start to depart. "Hey um Fox?" he looked over at his vixen friend. 'is she going to ask ME to the dance? Man this is low for her to ask me instead of me ask me'

"Can you maybe give me a ride home? My parents are busy today." Fox paused for a moment. 'what do I do? It's been awkward enough today with- okay, calm down. She just needs a ride home is all, be nice.' His thoughts told him. "Yeah sure that shouldn't be a problem or anything."

She smiled and they walked along to the convertible. He unlocked the doors and they got in. Fox did everything he could to remain calm, Fara didn't really count at this point so he didn't really know how to act around a girl that he liked. It was an awkward silence the whole way back to their neighborhood.

All Krystal could think was 'maybe he's just a little nervous about asking'

The only thing Fox's thought told him was 'if I can just make it through this….'

They arrived at Krystal's house and time was slipping away. "Well uh, I guess I'll see you tomorrow." He said nervously. She picked up her books and other materials.

"I guess so." She was disappointed in Fox. She was heartbroken all over again by him. She wanted him to ask her to the dance, but he blew his chance. As she opened the door she calmed herself down 'there's plenty of time for him to ask me…..right?'


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Friday had finally come. He had all week, but Fox never overcame his fear of asking Krystal to the dance. He was scared of what they may do to their friendship. But they were just friends right? There shouldn't be a problem here. But it seemed like there was an unspoken problem between Fox and Krystal. The group all met outside, except for Krystal. Everyone noticed that she left very quickly.

"Yeah me and Katt are going for sure." Falco assured everyone "Us too." Slippy said holding hands with Amanda. Everyone turned and saw Lucy clinging to Bill's arm and he nodded to them.

Fox looked around at all of his friends happily together 'Really? I'm the only one?' He thought.

Lucy got everyone's attention announcing "I don't think I've heard Krystal say she's going"

'that's my fault' was all that came to Fox's mind. " I guess I'll come to sorta hang out" The others nodded to him in approval, and he left for the convertible.

Once he got home, his parents were eager to hear about his results. When they asked he only sighed and looked away. "Well sweetie don't worry, you'll have plenty of opportunities after this." His mother tried to comfort him. Fox didn't feel that way, he felt like this was his only chance, and he blew it.

He got ready for the dance later that night, dressing semi formal. He had a collared shirt, tucked into his jeans with converse. He saw it as somewhat formal because a collared shirt, especially tucked in, was rare for him. James and Vixy wanted to take pictures, but Fox protested, saying they would just be pictures of him in a collared shirt. The dance was in the gym so everyone met outside.

Once they walked in, Fox quickly regretted this decision. There was nothing he could do without third wheeling one of his friends. He decided for the time being that he would just hang out in their little corner, claiming he was making sure no one tried to take their spots. It wasn't a comfortable night for the vulpine. A few times a group of girls passed his little island and laughed as they walked by. This caused Fox to turn red and feel even more uncomfortable.

Luckily he thought of this situation and whipped out his Nintendo 3DS and played a game where one of his favorite characters, a plumber with a green hat and shirt, navigated through a haunted house looking for his brother. He found it to be enjoyable, and if they walked by again while he was playing, it helped him zone out the group of girls that laughed at him.

At about 7 Fox stopped playing and looked up and saw his friends all having fun out on the dance floor, without him. As he looked around there was something that surprised him, something he didn't expect. About ten feet away from him, sitting all alone was Krystal.

After about 10 minutes Fox worked up the courage to go sit beside he and give her company. As soon as he sat down beside her she had an alarmed look on her face, no smile, no beaming eyes.

"Fox! I uh…. Didn't know you were coming." "Yeah I decided to come, if you came by yourself why didn't you tell us so we could all have met up?" She looked away in grief,

" I uh….. I came with panther."

Now it was Fox's turn for his world to be shattered. 'what does this mean? Am I done? Is she trying to get back at me?' All these thoughts were swarming around in his head but they had to be pushed away for now. Just as he snapped out of his trance did he notice panther come back holding two drinks.

' I knew I shouldn't have come' he thought.

"Oh… well uh, I guess I'm in your seat panther." He got up, trying to smile politely. "Well I guess I'll excuse myself now." As he got up Krystal tried to tell him something but he wasn't listening as he walked off rather quickly. When she turned to get her drink from panther he walked out the door and ran to his convertible.

'This must be how she felt' he thought as he ran. His world was shattered completely, he just wanted to get away from everything.

"You're home early." Vixy said as she turned to see her son. "Yeah it….it was real boring" He said in a sad tone with his head hung. It was only 7:30 and the dance wasn't over until 10.

"Now or later?" James asked his wife. "Waiting a while wont hurt I suppose."

Around 10 there was a knock at the door. Vixy left her spot on the couch by her husband to answer the door. There stood Krystal in her homecoming dress.

"My, Krystal you look gorgeous! Is there something I can help you with?" Krystal looked a little uncomfortable "Hi Vixy, is um, is Fox here?" Vixy waved james to go get Fox and she turned telling Krystal he would be here momentarily.

James kicked the door open in a joking fashion and said "Krystal's here for you" Fox sat up seeming excited, sad, and angry all at once.

He paused and told his dad "Tell her I'm already asleep." The older fox turned around to walk out, then turned back to his son.

"You can't do this forever." He went to the door and told the young vixen "Sorry Krystal, he's already fallen asleep."

"Oh, well alright… thanks mr james." She walked off and they shut the door.

He looked at his wife and said "it's later" He kicked the door open again into Fox's room and pulled up the computer chair, he slouched down in it and crossed his arms. "Alright, spill it." Fox sighed heavily and simply said "She…she went with another guy. I- I just don't get it."

His father smirked and took off his sunglasses. " Well genius, if you talked to her or asked her to the dance you wouldn't have to worry about it." Fox managed to smirk through the hurt

"Yeah I know it's just-" His dad cut him off. "I was a teenager too ya know, you don't have to explain." Finally the attempts to cheer up his son had paid off.

"I guess I can try talking to her sometime." James nodded in approval and left.

He sat beside Vixy on their bed and she looked over to him. "Well? What did he say?" He scooted up to her grinning and said "He said you owe me some money" Vixy grumbled and handed her husband his winnings.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

Fox didn't seem to feel it this morning. He felt more groggy than usual on Saturday morning. For some reason he couldn't remember what happened last night. He figured it was a long night, then he remembered last night was the homecoming dance. 'that's right' he thought. Then he remembered why he didn't want to remember about homecoming.

"Krystal" was all he could say. He just didn't see it coming, he may have had it coming with what he had done with Fara, but he never would have imagined Krystal to be one to take revenge. He just didn't know what was going on anymore, sure his dad had talked to him about all of this but, his thoughts seemed to overpower the words of wisdom his dad gave him.

He realized that it had taken it's toll on him, and he realized that it was noon that he had slept to. He thought for a second, and realized that Krystal had come to his house last night and she needed something. Who's to say she wont try that again today?

Fox quickly scrambled to his phone, he sent out a message out to Bill Slippy and Falco saying they needed to hang out. He said they should go to Bill's house and they all agreed to meet up there in an hour. He scrambled to get his clothes on and groom himself, trying to get out of his house as fast as possible, he wasn't ready to face Krystal if she came, and he didn't want to either. It was 12:30 when he was ready, he poked his head out the door and looked both ways before James put his hand on his shoulder.

Fox turned around to his dad " Remember, you cant do this forever." He then let his son go and Fox sprinted out to the convertible and turned it on as fast as he could. As he backed out he looked in his rear view mirror, and his fears came true.

He saw Krystal walking down the street towards his house. She looked up and noticed his car backing out and he heard a "Fox!" as she started to run towards him.

He knew not to turn around, because then she would know for sure he was trying to get away from her. He stomped the pedal without looking back at her and he was gone. She stopped her running and sighed. "He got away." Was all she could find to say.

He pulled up to Bill's house just as everyone else did. They all greeted each other and walked in and took their seats. They didn't have anything planned for the hanging out so there was a cloud of awkward silence hovering above all of them. Falco had enough of it and broke the ice.

"Sooooooo foxie, what's up with calling this together all of a sudden?" Fox was afraid of this, but not near as afraid of it as the confrontation with Krystal.

He sighed heavily "I knew it was only a matter of time before someone asked. I….. I'm trying to get away from Krystal." Bill shook his head "Fox,man, we know you're nervous and all but you cant keep this up forever." The bird and frog agreed. "Well it's not so much that, did you guys know she was at the dance last night?"

Everyone was baffled, they never even knew. "Whoa whoa, she was there? I didn't even see her there." Slippy said. "Well if she was at the dance then you got nothing to worry about, so what if she was there?" Falco said, obviously not thinking about it.

" So what? Dude you aren't thinking about this! She was there with panther!" He was yelling at this point, the frustration was starting to surface. They were quiet. Falco had a look of concern on his face now.

"Dude….i…. I'm sorry. I mean I didn't think about that or know" Fox held up a hand, signaling him to stop. "It's okay man, I should have just said it. I didn't mean to yell at you." They felt so bad for their friend, they had completely abandoned him when he needed them the most.

"I saw her last night and went to talk to her. She said she was there with him and then he came back with drinks for him and her." They couldn't believe it, they could tell she wasn't happy about Fara, but they didn't think she would try and spike him like this. "Then I left after that. Later when the dance was over she came to my house but I just didn't want to talk to anyone."

Slippy patted his friend on the shoulder "Don't worry Fox, we're here for ya buddy." "I just knew that I didn't to deal with her and I couldn't run the risk of her coming to my house. She tried to catch me when I left today, but I was already in the convertible so I made it out."

They chuckled a little at the last story. "Maybe the best way to resolve this really is to talk to her man. I hate saying it but I think that's the only way." Words that you never would have heard Falco say in a million years had actually come out.

Suddenly there was a knock at the door. Bill's face lit up. "Oh no." was all you could hear the canine say. "Who's that?" Fox asked his alarmed friend.

"Uh Fox you'll need to forgive me for this, but I completely forgot I invited Lucy over today." Fox's face lit up now, clamoring to find an exit besides the front door. "Calm down man, maybe she can help some too" Slippy said, trying to be a voice of reason.

'Just calm down, you'll be okay. Lucy is your friend.' He thought to himself.

Bill let her in and the guys had calmed down and sat back down. "Hey Bill! Thanks for inviting me, I saw outside there were some more cars outside, whose are tho-" She didn't finish. She walked in and saw Fox, remembering what Krystal had told her.

"Oh. Um hey guys. Fox, Krystal wants to talk to you." He hung his head. "I know, she came to my house last night after the dance." Just as he said that, his phone went off. Someone was calling him. Of course, it was Krystal. He denied it and realized apparently it had gone off plenty of times without him knowing. He had missed six calls from her within the past hour.

"You should have answered that." He looked up and saw Lucy beaming down on him. "She really wants to talk to you, you know? She's not too happy right now." The words seemed to sting him a little.

"Yeah Fox, come on man go get her!" Falco gave his friend a motivational shove. "She asked her parents to leave so you could talk completely alone." She added.

He sighed again, "I really don't want to, but it has to be done. I'll see you guys later." He stood up and they all patted him on the back as he walked out. He got into the convertible and took off towards Krystal's house. On his way there he pondered if he really could follow through with this. But when he thought he could answer it was too late, he was there.

"Here we go" He said as he knocked on the door. She answered the door with a happy face.

"Hey Fox, come in." He did so and took a seat.

"I know you've wanted to talk, so here I am, let's do this." She sat down beside him. "So why did you do it? Why did you go to the dance with panther? I mean, after a little while I figured that you may have been pretty mad about Fara but, I never thought you were one for revenge." She looked a little upset at this comment.

" Fox, I didn't go with Panther to get back at you. I was upset about you and Fara, but I would never do anything to hurt you like I did last night. I was hoping you would ask me to the dance, and I felt so crushed when you didn't. it was Friday before I left that panther asked me. I really didn't want to be mean about it and I couldn't say I had a date, because I didn't. It really meant nothing to me, I wanted to go with you, I was hoping that you didn't come so you didn't have to see it."

Fox couldn't believe himself, all this time he thought she was trying to get back at him, but she was trying to protect him. "Krystal…" Was all he could say before she leapt on him for a hug. He returned it, and the two became happy with each other again.

"I would never want to hurt you Fox." She said as she looked into his emerald colored eyes.

He looked into her sapphire eyes and said "I would never want to hurt you either Krystal."

After about an hour of talking Fox went home. 'I should have known she wasn't up to anything bad, I still have a chance after all' Were his thoughts as he smiled driving back home.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

It was a fast month. From the time of the painful homecoming had come and gone. Fox felt bad for the assumption he made of Krystal. She explained to him the reasons for her actions and everything was fixed. Panther had been upset that Krystal practically ditched him after homecoming. She had no regrets, he began to fall in the wrong crowd, the crowd that was certainly dangerous. She stuck with Fox, she knew he would protect her. She was happy to be around him, even if he had yet to ask her out. She figured patience would help her, the last time she was upset about him, he made the wrong assumption and it threw them into a deep hole. But they got out of it, together.

December had come, and the group was ready for Christmas, and Christmas break. Fox had still been struggling with Krystal, as far as trying to lay down the moves went. He knew he couldn't take being apart from her much longer so he decided for Christmas they would throw a party.

"A party? With everyone and their parents? Fox that's a great idea!" His mother raved about the idea for days. Fox began spreading the word, "Bring your parents if you want" He told them. Krystal wanted her parents to meet Fox's, for obvious reasons.

It was Christmas eve they had the party, and Fox was as nervous as could be. He wanted so badly to talk to Krystal, to tell her how he felt, but he just couldn't seem to get it out. Falco and Slippy were the first two to arrive, and they could tell Fox was nervous.

"I thought he was done with this being nervous." Falco muttered.

'Okay calm down, just don't worry. Take it easy, just talk to her like you usually do.' He could see her and her parents drive up and begin to walk up to the porch.

Fox ran back toward his room like a scared child as Falco and James caught him.

"No!youguyscantmakemegooutthere! imeanshelooksgoodandilookterribleanditjustwouldntw orktoday!" James slapped his son across the face.

"Pull yourself together son! You gotta go out there and sweep her off her feet! It's Christmas eve, there's no better time than tonight!" Fox slapped his face a few times to get himself back in shape.

"Right, I just need to go out there and say what I practiced." Falco paused and looked at james,then looked back at his friend.

"You…. You practiced what you were going to say to her?" "Yeah, course I did. I gotta be prepared." Falco had a look of disbelief on his face. "If you'll excuse me."

He walked off and moments later you could hear loud laughter coming from behind a closed door. Fox's ears drooped a little when he heard the laughter, but quickly he shook them off and tried to focus back on his mission. The doorbell rang and Vixy answered the door as they walked in.

"Hey Krystal!" Fox said as he quickly walked out, without paying attention to anything. He soon tripped up and landed roughly "Oof!" He echoed. Krystal couldn't help but cover her muzzle and try not to laugh. James walked up and held his hand out to Krystal's dad,

"James McCloud, it's nice to meet you." The two older foxes shook hands firmly. Fox regained his footing,

" Here, let me take those for you" He took the dish they prepared and the two liter drink they brought and walked to the bar area of the kitchen where the other food and drinks were. Krystal followed him and sat on one of the barstools on the other side of the bar. She watched her crush intently. He glanced at her for half a second and looked back down, then looked back up at her one more time. He smiled and went back to moving everything around.

She felt like she could just stare at him all day. 'He's so cute' She thought as she watched him.

Vixy was busy talking with Krystal's mom. "So Diane…. Let's keep this between us ladies, but does Krystal like my son?"

Diane leaned in close to Vixy whispering "Oh she's absolutely crazy about him. She talks about him every day!" Vixy had a happy smile "Fox really likes Krystal too, he just has a hard time with girls." "So we hear from Krystal" The two vixens shared a laugh as their husbands stood on the other side of the room, knowing exactly what they were talking about.

"So you think he'll ask my daughter tonight?" Rick asked James. He shrugged his shoulders "Knowing my son, I really don't know." The two vulpines laughed themselves. Everyone arrived and now started to socialize more.

Peppy had arrived and was eager to speak with James and Vixy. Just as he was nearly finished placing everything did Fox notice James and his friends laughing looking over at him.

He had a confused look on his face. He looked around his surroundings then turned red. He moved some cups around and purposely dropped some where Krystal was sitting.

"Geez sorry Krystal, can you pick those up for me?" "mhm" She told him as she leaned down to pick them up, and when she did Fox jumped up and snatched the missletoe that was hanging down and threw it at his father.

"Here you go." She said as she handed her crush the cups. He smiled to her and went on with his things. Everyone settled down, and as Fox was about to leave the kitchen did Krystal out of nowhere come up and hug him around his stomach. It had been a while since this happened and he seemed to have forgot how to react. He turned red a little and gently hugged her back. She was so happy that he had invited her into his house, and that she could be around him.

They all settled in and it seemed almost as if Fox was avoiding Krystal. He hadn't talked to her since she had gotten there, she was feeling a little sad about this. Eventually she wanted to be alone and went outside and sat on the porch swing, the same porch swing that she sat on with Fox a month ago when he dumped Fara. She sat out there in the semi cold wondering to herself.

"Son why aren't you talking to Krystal?" Fox sighed not even knowing the answer. "Listen, she's out there by herself, if you don't act now, I'm kicking you out." Fox laughed at his dad's joke. "Alright dad, wait here." He went back to his room and came back with… a present?

"I wont let you down dad." He walked outside to face her at last. He sat down beside her and put the present down on the ground.

"Why are you out here by yourself?" Krystal looked off to the open night, then looked back at Fox,

"Hoping for a moment like this." She said as she took his hand in hers.

"I was hoping for a moment like this too, I've wanted to give you this for a while, and I figured this was the best time." He handed her the present and she tore off the wrapping paper and opened the box, inside it was a….. shirt?

' what's so special about a shirt? No I shouldn't think like this, he went and got me something ni-' Her thoughts were interrupted as she unfolded the shirt.

"This… this is my shirt!" All those months ago when they first met, ripped her favorite shirt. And now he finally repaid her.

"I hope it's the right size, I took a look at you and guessed- er I mean-" She cut him off with an enormous hug and squeezed him tightly. "Fox it's perfect! This is so sweet! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" He tried to return the hug,

"Krystal… you're 'cough' choking me."

She let go of him, "Oh uhh sorry" She said with a nervous smile.

'It's now or never' he thought to himself. "Hey Krystal?" she turned to look at him. "You probably know this by now but, I… I really like you" The two both paused.

'He… he finally did it.' She thought to herself.

'great, she's spooked now, way to go McCloud.'

"No Fox." Just as he thought, his greatest fear had been met.

"I understand Krystal, I'll just leave you alone now." He got up and tried to walk back inside, but something stopped him. She was still holding onto his hand

"No, sit down." She told him. He did so and she looked him in the eyes. "I mean I'm not spooked. I like you too Fox, a lot"

She saw the biggest smile of relief come across his face once she told him that. "Krystal, if you give me one chance, I promise on my life that I will make you as happy as you can be and I will never hurt you or allow anyone to hurt you."

She began to cry out of happiness, and so did he.

"Yes, yes I will. I know you will give me a chance to do the same for you Fox. I… I want to stay with you." The two crying foxes embraced closely to each other as everyone else looked through the window watching the two happy people in their lives.

He whispered in her ear, "Merry Christmas Krystal."

Things were the way they wanted them to be.

Just the way the were supposed to be.


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

It was three days later. They planned their first date for the 27th of December.

"You know, I thought after I asked her out that this thing about being nervous would go away." He told his parents as he was preparing for their first date, HIS first date. It was a strangely warm day for it to be winter, warm enough for Fox to pull the cover down on the convertible, he was glad he could finally pull it down again.

'Alright just calm down, just dress to keep yourself calm' Fox did so and threw on a pair of jeans and his Starfox uniform, with a new scarf. 'Wow that's better' He thought to himself. He passed his father in the hall on his way up front and he stopped him.

"The flight jacket does it for you doesn't it" Fox looked down at it and looked back up "You know, I can only wonder why I used to hate it" The two foxes laughed and his father told him "Good luck son" He gave him a thumbs up and Fox returned it and went up to the living room to see his mother before he left.

Vixy looked at him to see his choice of attire, "I think you made a good choice in your clothes honey, I think the flight jacket looks handsome on your father." Fox smiled and gave his mother a hug then walked out the door, feeling more prepared than he thought was possible. He drove down to Krystal's house and rang the doorbell.

'He's here! Oh my gosh I'm not even ready! Oh he's going to hate me for this, why does everything have to go bad on our first date?' She couldn't think of a single positive thing.

"Honey! Fox is here!" She could hear her mother calling. She panicked and didn't know what to do. "I'm not ready yet!" She called back. Fox breathed a sigh of relief as he and the older vixen laughed at both the young foxes. "Not ready yourself?" She asked as she let him in. "Uh well im probably as ready as I'll ever be, and that probably isn't saying much. I really thought that this getting nervous stuff would stop after I asked her out." Again they laughed while waiting on Krystal to finish getting ready.

"that's an interesting choice of clothing you have there." She told Fox. "Yeah I decided to mix it up a bit, I wanna be a pilot one day so I figured I could start getting the feel of it a little early." He talked with Krystal's mom for 15 minutes until Krystal came out into the living room.

"Hey Fox! I'm ready now!" He turned to see her and his jaw dropped. He had never seen her look so amazing. She had her fur brushed to the point of perfection, she had her hair brushed to the point of being glossy and shiny. And she had a red dress that actually went well with her blue fur, despite the difference in color. Fox opened his mouth to talk, but couldn't find anything to say.

"Uhhhhh…." Was all that was heard. She blushed and giggled at her new boyfriend's reaction. "I like your jacket." She told him, trying to get him to snap out of his trance. " Uh yeah, thanks. I- I uh… I really like that dress" The two blushed at each other.

Krystal's mom stood up "Well? You two had better get going now! You didn't plan on your date being here did you?" The two young foxes laughed and went out to the convertible.

At every red light and stop sign they had to stop at, Fox took every chance he had to steal a glance at Krystal. She noticed after a few minutes and looked at him as much as she could, trying to hide it like he did. The two decided to go to a movie, one that Krystal had been talking about for a few weeks and now Fox had the perfect chance to take her to it. They went into the theater, paw in paw, and Fox bought a popcorn and drink for them.

"Thank you very much." He told the older wolf man. "Excuse me young man!" The wolf said as fox was about to walk away, noticing Krystal waiting on him. He walked back to face the man as he gave him an elderly smile, "Good luck." Fox knew what he was talking about. He smiled and waved to the old man as he walked off with Krystal, he felt like he could get used to this.

They were surprised when they got into their theater, it was nearly deserted. The two smiled at each other before taking their seats. As they expected more and more people started to file into the theater. The two sat near the top, trying to stay away from others. Krystal wanted to see an action movie with a bit of romance.

"I knew it would be boring to you if it was all romance." She whispered to Fox. "It wouldn't be boring as long as I'm watching it with you." He whispered back. She laid her head on his shoulder and squeezed his hand tighter. He pried his hand off of hers and for a moment she was confused, until he put his arm around her and grabbed her hand once he reached around her. She re- assumed her previous position and closed her eyes. Finally, after so long she could express how strongly she felt about Fox. Fox too couldn't be any happier.

After the movie they decided they would go walk around the mall and get dinner. She sat down and Fox told her that he would be back with something for them to eat.

'He's so sweet, taking me to a movie and buying me dinner. This is how it should have been from the start' She thought to herself. She clasped her hands together and closed her eyes, just thinking of how her evening was going. Her thoughts were interrupted when her date came back with a tray with a slice of pizza for each of them and two drinks.

"Fox this is so sweet of you to buy me dinner." She said to him with a big smile on her face. He just shrugged his shoulders and smiled, "This is only the beginning." They smiled at each other, knowing that he was right.

After they ate dinner it was about 9, and Krystal needed to be back at 10. "So what do you wanna do now? We've got about an hour until you have to be back." The two didn't quite know what to do. "How about we go to the park for a walk?" She looked at her new boyfriend and he seemed to like the idea. They hopped into the convertible and took a ride down to the park. Much to their liking, there was no one there, and it actually became a little cold.

Krystal snuggled up close to Fox as they walked along, not only to stay warm but because she loved being close to him. Fox looked around "What? You've got to be kidding, I didn't know it was that cold." Krystal looked up and they saw that it began to snow.

They ran around catching snowflakes in their mouths and before long the snow started sticking and piling up. "Just imagine, it's like this every day on Fichina!" Fox said as he made his new girlfriend laugh. After a while Krystal got an idea and grinned to herself. "Oh Fox?" he turned around and got nailed in the face with a snowball. "Oof! Hey you're gonna get it now!" He said as he chased after her. He threw a snowball over at her and got her in the upper back.

"Brrrr! That's cold!" "Not as cold as this!" He said as he ran up with a handful of snow and got her in the face with it. He was laughing as hard as he ever has, but she wasn't.

She just stood there rubbing her face and kneeled down. "Uh, Krystal are you okay? I- I didn't mean to hurt you or anything." She spoke without looking at him.

"Yeah I know you didn't, but I do!" She said as she leapt up firing back with two handfuls of snow to the face. "You'll pay for that one!" He said chasing after her one more time. This time he grabbed her around the waist to hold her still, but the idea backfired and he slipped while holding onto her.

As he slipped backwards he held her completely in front of him to ensure her safety. He landed with a big thud on the ground with her on top of him. "Are you okay?" He asked her as he took his hands off of her. She rolled over facing down at him seeing his now, red face. "Yeah I'm fine, is that sunburn or are you blushing?" She said with a girly smile.

"Uh well uh, yeah I guess im blushing a little." She giggled a little "I think it's sweet when you blush around me, it lets me know how much you think about me." This time she blushed and Fox grinned. "Now you're blushing, what does that mean?" They both laughed a little and got up, much against what they wanted.

Fox looked at his phone to see the time and was saddened. "Well it's 9:40, we had better head back to your house now." The two foxes jumped into the convertible and blasted off that way. When they arrived Fox turned off the convertible and walked her up to the porch.

She took his hands in hers. "I had a really great time Fox, I… I just can't believe we're finally together" She said softly as she leaned in and hugged him. "I can't believe it either, it's like a dream come true." She rested her head on his chest and closed her eyes.

"I….I really don't want to move." She told him, with a reluctant look on her face. "I do." He told her.

She was confused, and didn't know how to feel, until he moved closer to her face and gave her a passionate kiss on her cheek. It took her breath away and she couldn't find anything to say until she heard "Goodnight Krystal" As he reluctantly parted from her and drove off.

She held her cheek where he kissed her, closed her eyes, and smiled.


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

"So You guys went out yesterday?" Falco asked his friend.

"Yeah we did, man it was awesome." Fox and Falco laughed. They had met up to hang out some.

"Yeah I guess me and Katt have gone out but I don't like the term 'date' it's just that simple." Fox just shrugged his shoulders, "Anything that makes the lady happy, right? We can call it whatever when they aren't around, if it can keep us outta trouble."

They laughed again. It had been a while since they had hung out, it being just the two of them. It seemed like this way Falco would be at least half serious when it came to things.

"You know foxie, you're new to this but you act like you've been on this for a while." Again Fox shrugged his shoulders, really not knowing the answer as to why that was. "I guess it's just a natural thing." He leaned back in his chair with his hands folded behind his head looking up, "I gotta say, this sure feels like the good life." Falco thought the same thing. It seemed like ever since Fox talked to Krystal after homecoming that everyone's life was hitting an all time high.

Fox and Krystal had gotten together, and all their friends were forming relationships with each other, everyone was happy. "Yeah I actually am meeting up with her tonight at one of the teenager clubs." Falco was taken aback by the word 'club' coming out of his mouth.

"Whoa whoa whoa, you guys are going to a CLUB? You guys are only 16!" Fox shook his head "I'm really shocked that you of all people don't know about these things. They're called teenage clubs for a reason. They're like clubs, but geared towards teenagers, no alcohol, no sex on the dance floor." The last comment made the two laugh, "I can't believe I just said that." Fox said amidst the laughing while holding a hand over his face. Falco couldn't help but laugh himself,

"See it's things like that you just can't say around girls without them getting offended or whatever it is that girls call it." This only probed them to laugh even more "Man making fun of girls is probably the best thing ever" Fox said agreeing with his friend. "Whew man, you know I think I'm gonna get Katt to come along and we're gonna tag along with you guys to the club, sounds like some fun." "Doesn't bother me any, honestly even if it's geared towards teens with no alcohol and everything, I still don't think it's as safe as some people make it out to be."

Falco shrugged his shoulders, he was right. "Yeah so I guess we can meet up around 6 or 7?" Fox asked his avian friend. He nodded in approval and went to go back to his home, and to tell his feline girlfriend about their new plans for tonight. Fox did the same, he called Krystal to tell her of their new plans.

"Hey Fox! What's up?"

"Well I was hanging out with Falco earlier and I told him about our plans so now he and Katt are going to come with us!" He couldn't see it but Krystal's face was beaming. "That's wonderful! Mom and Dad will like that, they think you're fully capable of protecting me but they still think it may be a little dangerous going to a club-like environment"

"yeah even Falco said that, two guys is better than one when it comes to protection after all. But I'll be over there at 6 to come get you and we'll meet up with them a little after that."

"Okay I like that idea, can't wait to see you!" " It's only been a day since we've seen each other you know?" She giggled a little, "I know but…"

"I know, I can't wait to see you too." She felt as though she could feel his smile on the other end of the phone. With that they ended their call.

James overheard the last line by Fox as he walked into the living room. "Well aren't you mr. Smooth all of a sudden?" Fox laughed at his dad's joke

"Yeah I don't know where it comes from, it just happens. Weird thing is that I can smooth talk like that over the phone and all, but sometimes when I'm with her in person and all I just melt sometimes. But I guess it's okay because sometimes the same thing happens with her." James laughed at his son a little and messed with the white streak of fur on his head.

"That's a good thing for both of you, it means you both really do think a lot of each other." Fox blushed at his father's comment. "Have fun and stay safe tonight out there tonight at that, what's it called again?"

"They call it corner café, it's the club like environment with no alcohol and all that stuff." James nodded his head,

"I still don't completely trust them, I think you and Falco should wear your uniforms and take your blasters in case of emergency. The uniforms should ward off trouble and the blaster is well, like I said in case of emergency." Fox nodded at his father's suggestion, any excuse to put on the flight jacket and the rest of his uniform was good enough for him.

As that time came around Fox went over to Krystal's house to pick her up so they could go to the café.

'I really can't believe this, two days in a row I haven't been ready when he gets here.' She sighed 'at least I'm almost ready'.

Rick let Fox in and Krystal yelled "I'm almost ready Fox! Just 5 minutes and I'll be out!" Fox and Rick laughed a little, "She says 5 minutes, but knowing women how long do you really think it's gonna be?" Rick laughed at the joke.

"There's no telling, but I don't think she'll be much longer, usually when she says she'll be ready soon she's right." Fox shrugged his shoulders as Rick gestured for him to take a seat. And just like she said, Krystal came out 5 minutes later.

Fox turned to see her and again his jaw hit the floor. She was dressed casually this time in just the shirt he bought her for Christmas, a pair of dark jeans and leathery boots hiking up as far as Fox's combat boots. Even if they weren't any special clothes, Fox still thought she looked incredible.

As they walked outside towards the convertible Fox looked at her and grabbed her hand. "You look really good today" She smiled and blushed a little as he opened the door for her. "Aw Fox, that's so sweet!" Now it was his turn to blush. "Uh yeah well um, dad always does it for mom so I guess uhh…"

Before she sat down she gave him a peck on the cheek and he turned a little more red and smiled. As they rode down to the café Krystal noticed that Fox was wearing his uniform again. "So, is that all you're gonna wear on our dates?" She asked with a giggle.

"Well dad sides with us when we say that it may not be as safe as it's supposed to be, so he wanted me and Falco to wear our uniforms to scare anyone off, and…" He lifted his leg into her view, "And he told us to bring this in case of any emergency, I wasn't thinking about going to that extreme, but he does have a point." Krystal never even noticed the blaster in the holster strapped around his leg.

"It's a lot less scary with you having a gun since I know what you and your dad do for a living." She said while laughing.

She reached over and grabbed Fox's hand while it was laying on his armrest. She squeezed it tightly with both of her hands as they headed for the café.


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

It took about 15 minutes and Fox and Krystal arrived at the café. Not long after did Falco and Katt pull up beside them. Falco came out in a uniform similar to Fox's, except having no scarf, and brown pants and a brown shirt instead of Fox's green.

"Good to see you got the message" He whispered to the bird before opening the door for everyone. "This flight jacket is actually pretty awesome." Fox laughed a little as his friend was confused, "Good to know I'm not the only one who thinks that." The two of them laughed and then looked around at the club.

"Whoa man, this place is awesome! Look over there, a bar, tables, a lounge kinda place." The bird was liking the idea more and more.

"Hey dude, where are the girls?" They looked around trying to find them, "I think we got burned" They laughed again "Dang and here I thought I was getting good at this stuff, then this happens." They sat at the bar and the bartender came over.

"We don't have alcohol, what do you guys want?"

"Sorry this actually the first time me and my friends have been here, so since you don't sell alcohol for the teen only environment, does that mean you guys have like, sodas?" The vulpine asked a little curious.

"Yes sir. We got sodas, smooties, milkshakes, you just ask. I can get you men some menus if you're hungry, you got a question you just ask."

"Alright thanks man, but uh, our girls went off somewhere in here so we were just gonna wait for them or go find them or something." The bird told the bartender. He nodded and walked off as the two friends looked around for their girls, wherever they were.

Fox groaned, "So much for trying to stay safe" The avian chuckled and they got up to go explore the place a little. They liked the look to it, it seemed pretty cool. They liked the neon lights that lit up areas of it and the upbeat music they constantly had playing. "I think I could get used to this place." Falco told his friend, he nodded in agreement.

Fox tapped his friend on the shoulder and pointed, they had finally found their girlfriends. They walked up to them with some concerned expressions,

"What happened to 'staying safe'?" Falco asked them.

"Oh stop being such a sourpuss Falco and lighten up." Katt told him. "Yeah Fox, we're here to have fun" Krystal told her boyfriend. They pushed them aside and headed for the soda bar.

Fox looked at his friend again with a confused expression, "Did….did that just happen?"

They walked towards the bar and took their seats by their girlfriends. "So I see you guys found your girls, now what can I get ya?" "Uh well I guess me and this lady here will take a vanilla milkshake" He had a smirk on his face as he looked over towards Falco, "We'll take the same" The bartender laughed a little and said "You guys are good" and walked off to make their milkshakes.

Falco wrapped his arm around Katt's waist, Fox noticed and did the same to Krystal. She looked over to him and gave him a happy smile as the bartender came back. "A milkshake for you two, and a milkshake for you two" He said as he sat them down and placed some straws down in front of each of them.

They each dove two straws into their milkshakes and took a healthy drink of it. "Mmmmm, this is really good!" Katt said once she finished inhaling some of the milkshake. "Yeah this is pretty good, I can get used to it." Fox said, inhaling the rest of his and Krystal's milkshake.

"Hey! I only got a little bit of it!" She said giving him a small push. "Sorry, it was really good though." "Hmph" She said crossing her arms.

Fox waved the bartender back over and got her her own milkshake. "Geez man, it's getting hot in here." Fox said. He rolled up the sleeves on his flight jacket up to his elbows and that drew some attention from his friends.

"Dude you need to keep that." Fox was confused at this comment. "Keep what?" "That thing with the rolled up sleeves. Man that's looking pretty tight on you, way better than the sleeves rolled down."

Krystal turned to see what the commotion was about, hearing Falco's comment. Her eyes got a bit bigger and she grabbed his now exposed forearm. "Yeah Fox keep the sleeves rolled up, it does look cooler. And it shows your muscles a little." Fox grinned at his girlfriend and put his arm around her waist, but quickly took it off. She looked confused at him, then sensed what he was thinking.

"Fox, I don't bite you know?" She whispered in his ear, Fox looked a little sad at this comment. "Yeah I….I know, it's just that we've only really been going out for two days and I-I thought I may be moving a little fast." Krystal sighed, but strangely it sounded like she laughed a little as she did. "Fox, it's okay with me. If you want to-" She was cut off by another raspy voice that was behind them.

"Well well, if it isn't mr. steal yo girl" They turned around and saw Panther standing behind them, with a wolf to his left, and a chameleon to the wolf's left.

"This is the guy?" The wolf asked. He looked at Panther and shook his head. Krystal groaned looking at Panther,

"What do you want Panther? I stopped talking to you for a reason." Panther was falling into a dangerous crowd, and he wouldn't admit it. He sat down beside her and put his arm around her shoulder, and Fox quickly took it off. "Buddy, can you please not touch my girlfriend?" Panther just grunted and put his arm on her again. "Take your hand off of me!" Krystal yelled pushing him off his stool. Panther growled a little and got back up and walked over her.

Fox had enough of this, he got up and pushed him back to where he was standing in between them. "This is the last time, get away from her." The wolf pulled Fox from in between them and said, "The name's wolf, and why don't you just let those two settle this on their own." He said with an evil looking smirk.

"No thanks, I'll pass on that one." He said as he roughly took Wolf's hands off of him.

This time Wolf jumped in front of him. "Clearly you haven't heard about me, when I say something, it happens." This time Fox noticed his hands were balled into fists, and he had a sharp tone in his voice.

"I don't think so." Fox told him before stepping around him walking back to his girlfriend.

Wolf had had enough of this, he spun Fox around and punched him straight in the nose.

Fox took a few steps back and knew that this would happen. "Look Wolf, I don't want to fight you, I just came here to have fun got it? Now why don't you take your little gang somewhere else?" Wolf smirked and mockingly said "I don't think so." He swung for Fox's head again but this time Fox ducked.

Fox pushed him forward, which caused him to trip backwards over a chair. At this point Fox had waved some security over to get wolf and panther, he didn't want any trouble on his hands that wasn't his fault. The security guards came and got Panther and Wolf, and the chameleon walked off with them, without saying a word.

"Who were those guys?" Fox asked a guard. "Wolf O' Donnell, and the chameleon is Leon Powalski, and I assume you knew that Panther. They've been here a few times, but never caused any trouble until now, thanks for trying to avoid trouble." Fox nodded and re-joined his friends.

"Good thing you called those guards over, I was about to get up and make them wish you had called them sooner." Falco told his friend. Fox nodded.

"Maybe we should roll out soon, there's no telling if more trouble will come or not." They stayed until 9 then left.

On the ride home Krystal looked concerned at Fox, "Fox are you okay from when he hit you." Fox just chuckled as they got out when they arrived at her house.

"Don't worry about it, did you have fun tonight besides our little encounter?" Krystal tried to laugh at the last comment, but struggled. "I think it was fun, we should go back sometime, are you sure you're okay?" Fox chuckled at his girlfriend's extreme concern.

"I told you silly, I'm fine. So did you like your own exclusive milkshake?" Krystal smiled. "I loved it! Those were so good and, but are you sure-" Fox cut her off.

She closed her eyes, then opened them back. She closed her eyes and embraced the kiss that he had planted on her lips.

He began to pull away but she chased after him and wrapped her arms around his neck, and he didn't fight it, wrapping his arms around her waist in return. They stayed like that for at least 5 minutes.

When they pulled away he looked at her and said "I know I'm okay now for sure." They laughed and came together once more.

When they parted Krystal looked longingly into Fox's eyes and told him, "This is the best night of my life" Fox smiled a toothy smile, "I wish I didn't have to leave."

Both of them wanted to share their first kiss forever.


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19

The break was over and school was back. The group wasn't happy about it, most of them at least. Fox and Krystal were overjoyed at the break being over, it just meant that they had even more opportunities to see each other. Fox began to pick Krystal up from her home in the mornings, and take her home after school. Any excuse they had to spend more time with each other, they used it. They just couldn't get enough of each other it seemed.

The second week back they had some time off and were walking down the hall. They were headed for their second class when suddenly, Krystal stopped him.

"What is it?" He asked her, completely confused. "Well, we have some time before class starts, why don't we do something besides walk down the hall?" Fox became even more confused, but decided to investigate.

" Well uh, sure I guess. What did you want to do?" She giggled at his cluelessness and wrapped her arms around his neck. Fox wasn't so sure about this, "Wait, what if we get caught?" Krystal giggled more, "So what if we get caught?" Fox felt his face warming up, and it only made Krystal giggle even more.

"Uhhh well I guess there aren't any teachers around." Fox nervously smiled as she pushed him up against the lockers. Fox wrapped his arms around her waist and brought her closer than she was.

Fox snaked his tongue in her mouth and she pulled away slightly and whispered "You had better behave." While giggling. He laughed as well.

Just as they came together for a second round did a teacher turn the corner right in front of them. The teacher instantly recognized Fox and looked at him baffled. " 'sigh' Fox and Krystal, you know you're not supposed to do that here." Fox opened his eyes and quickly they sprang apart.

"Uhhhhh, uhmmm, sorry about that." Fox said trying not to turn even more red. Krystal just looked embarrassed, whether it was because they got caught, or that Fox was right, who knows? The teacher walked off and the two looked at each other awkwardly as they walked to their next class, gym.

Fox met up with the guys in the locker room and was talking to Falco. "Wait, you guys what!?" He yelled, while laughing. Slippy was sitting on a bench laughing a little himself. "You guys got caught making out in the hall?" Fox just looked down at the floor, "Y-…yeah."

Just after Fox said that did his three friends burst into laughing. Fox looked over at his friends with an annoyed look. "We're just joking around Fox, it's cool." Bill told his vulpine friend. They all calmed down and continued to get ready for gym.

Meanwhile in the girls locker room, "That's so funny!" Lucy told her blushing friend. "That's cute that you two got caught." Amanda told her. "I bet Falco and the boys are picking on Fox to no end about this." Katt said while they all laughed.

"It was pretty funny, but I have to say I was embarrassed" Krystal told her friends. They all laughed and went out to gym for their class.

Later on in the day they sat down at their table for lunch and carried on a decent conversation. Falco had been quiet most the time and hadn't talked to Krystal all day. He got a smirk on his face and looked over to her.

"So Krystal, anything interesting happen with you today?" Krystal blushed and looked a little embarrassed. "Uhh.. well yeah, sort of- I mean" Falco and everyone else laughed. "You've been with Fox too long if you start to talk like that." Bill told the vixen.

"Aw would you guys just shut up? At least we had the guts to get caught." Fox said as a joke, which to his relief everyone laughed at. Krystal blushed at Fox's defense, and he turned red as well when he remembered just how it went.

Later that day Fox took Krystal home and went home himself. "Hello honey, how was your day?" Vixy asked as he walked in. Fox turned red as she asked that and James walked in from his and Vixy's room as he turned red. "He's turning red, this must have been a good day at school huh Fox?" Fox sighed and laughed at the same time.

"Uh, well you see…." James raised an eyebrow, showing interest. "Well, me and Krystal were going to gym a little late and the halls were empty, so she wanted to uh…. Stop and do something else for a minute." Vixy gasped in disbelief,

"Fox honey that's so sweet! I knew you two were made for each other!" Fox turned even more red. "Yeah, well uh… we got caught by a teacher."

James completely burst out in laughter, and Vixy did as well after trying to hold it in. "Ugh, you guys are unbelievable" Fox mumbled as he walked to his room.

He got a call from Krystal a few minutes later.

"Hey there you." She said. Fox could hear laughter in the background. "They thought our event was funny too huh?" He asked his girlfriend.

"Yep, they're unbelievable." Fox laughed a little,

"Funny, I said the same thing"


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20

Fox and friends arrived at school on a Thursday morning with generally positive attitudes about the day. Fox walked into the lobby of the school with the guys. "So yeah I think we got this project competition in the-" Fox stopped suddenly when he saw something.

He saw sitting at their usual table, a wolf, panther, and chameleon. "Oh hey there Fox, fancy seeing you here." Wolf said as he smirked.

"Yeah, right. So what now? Are you actually going to school here or are you just trying to copy me?" Wolf chuckled at the vulpine's comment.

"Yeah I go to school here, Leon too. You got a problem with it?"

Now Fox laughed at the lupine a little, "None whatsoever, sure hope you like it here. But, you're in our usual spot, you mind moving somewhere else?" Panther growled at this comment,

"What you got some 'special memories' with my girlfriend here?" He said snarling at Fox.

Now Fox was a little mad. "You don't have a girlfriend Panther, Krystal is my girlfriend. She stopped being around you for a reason." Wolf got angry at this "Why don't you watch what you say before me and my crew shut you up?" Fox had enough of this now. "Right, why don't you just shut up and go somewhere else if you're gonna do nothing but cause trouble?"

This time Wolf was done. He jumped up and launched a fist at Fox. He ducked through it but didn't expect Panther to come at him next. Panther decked him in the jaw and Fox took a few steps back.

As if it were on cue, Falco rushed to stop Leon before he could do anything, and Bill ran and pushed panther back into the table. Fox got his composure back and grabbed Wolf's arm when he tried to backhand him. He pulled his arm for leverage and pushed him into the wall, facefirst.

Leon punched Falco in the gut and tried to club him in the neck but not before the bird caught him with a shoryuken-like uppercut, causing the lizard to fall backwards. Panther grabbed Bill by the shirt and threw him into the wall, trying to stack his fist on top of Bill's face as he hit the wall. Bill dodged it and just as panther turned around did Fox rush up and kick panther in the back of his knee, causing him to hit the floor.

Right as he turned around did Fox get grabbed by Wolf on his shirt and he slung him into a window. The glass shattered as Fox slid down onto the covered his head to keep away cuts on his head.

Falco ran over and pushed the lupine into a nearby trash can. Leon recovered from the punch Falco delivered and hit Falco in the ribs. Bill kicked Leon in the back and knocked him down. Panther nearly clubbed Bill in the neck, but Fox ran out of nowhere and bashed him with his shoulder, knocking him down on his back.

Wolf got up and pulled out a knife, running towards Fox. Fox turned around and saw him holding the knife, and had a defensive stance ready. Just as Wolf was about to swing, Slippy came around the corner with a few teachers. The dog teachers came and broke up the fight, just after Wolf quickly put away the knife. Fox and the guys stopped their fighting quickly, as where Wolf's friends didn't want to go down. They struggled into the office and the first to go in was Wolf's gang.

Fox and his friends sat out in the office. "You guys okay?" He asked his friends.

"A better question is are YOU okay?" Falco said looking at his friend. "That was pretty rough when you hit that window" Fox looked around himself.

"Yeah I guess you have a point. I'm fine, now we just have to wait and see what they're gonna do to us." Soon after the others came out with nasty looks at Fox and his friends. The principal beckoned Fox and the others to come in. The principal was a beagle and asked them how it all happened.

"Just be honest, I'm far more trusting of you four than those three."

Fox shrugged his shoulders, "Well they were in our spot and we asked them to leave and all, but then there were some remarks they made that were pretty offensive, and then it just resulted in Wolf coming at me, then the other two. Falco and Bill came in just to keep me from getting injured." Fox told the beagle.

"I went to get some help as soon as I saw Wolf go at Fox." Slippy told the principal.

"Hm, I see now, all self defense. Well the boarding rules say that you guys are gonna have to leave for the day. But, it isn't suspension, not to worry. It's really a day off from this, consider yourselves lucky." They all laughed at the principal's comment.

Just as he finished did a knock come at the door. A bird lady poled her head in "Sorry sir, but there is a group of young ladies up at the front wanting to see these young men." The boys all groaned and the two adults laughed.

"Looks like you're gonna need a day off after what's about to happen." The beagle said as he laughed and showed them out. They walked out into the waiting area of the office and were completely barraged with questions from the girls.

Krystal ran up to Fox and pulled an icepack out of nowhere and slapped it on his head. "Fox! Are you okay? Honey did they hurt you? How did this all happen?" All Fox could ask was "Where did you get that icepack?"

Katt slapped Falco across the face and said "Why would you get into a fight when I'm not around?"

Amanda was hugging Slippy, happy he didn't get hurt. Lucy was scolding Bill for getting into a fight in the first place. "Look girls just calm down so we can explain." Fox told them.

"Yeah see they started all this, we just had to defend ourselves." Falco continued.

"Except for this useless guy" Bill said messing with Slippy.

"Hey! I went and got the teachers!" They all laughed. "But all this means we get the day off, so you girls will be without us for the day." The girls weren't happy at this news, but decided it may be best. As the boys hugged their girlfriends goodbye and walked out of the school, when they were out of site, they cheered about being out for the day.

"Man this is sweet!" Slippy yelled. Of course explaining to their parents may be a problem, but they would decide that later.

"I'm sure they'll all understand when we explain it." Fox assured everyone. They all left and Fox was prepared completely to explain to his parents just why he was home so early.

He opened the door to see surprised parents. He quickly explained his situation.

James still didn't seem satisfied. "Well alright, but you need to try and avoid these things. Self defense or not, they aren't good."

Fox nodded respectfully and went to his room, maybe a day off is just what he and the guys needed.


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter 21

"What? Why not though?" Fox's confused girlfriend asked him.

"We're scheduled for a mission this weekend, so I can't come with you and your parents. I was gonna tell you now but well, now we know."

'She looks so upset, I hope she's going to be okay' Was all that came to his mind.

" well… 'sigh' I guess as long as you're doing something you like it's okay" She said as she clung to his arm walking towards his convertible. He dropped her off and went back to his house.

"Are you ready son?" James asked him. He nodded as they walked back outside. "So let me guess, she wasn't too happy?" Fox and his Dad chuckled. "She wasn't she seemed okay but even I know that's mostly an act." They laughed as they went to the docking bay.

They got back that Monday pretty exhausted. Krystal was overjoyed to see Fox, she hadn't talked to him all weekend. "Hey Krystal it's great to see yo-"

He was cut off by his phone going off. He pulled it out and answered after a little bit, it was confusing for Krystal to read his thoughts, it seemed like he wasn't entirely sure what to think himself.

" Krystal 'sigh' I have to go. I want to explain but I can't right now, I hope I'll be back soon." With that he dashed off to find the guys, he had a mission to go on.

She was alone again, and she didn't like it. She felt despondent, outcasted almost. "Well alright then." She said as she walked to class alone.

"When!?" Krystal sounded enraged later that night as she talked to Fox.

"Well again, we don't know really. It'll be alright, you've gone a month without me before, I know you can do it again." She could feel his warm smile, but that didn't change her cold feelings right now. He hung up and she was left speechless.

"Ugh! The nerve of him, how can he do this to me?" She said, tears beginning to form. "Why do bad things always happen to me?" She said while sobbing.

That Saturday Krystal just wanted to be alone. She wanted to be alone with her thoughts, but she didn't really think that herself. She had always been told that talking to someone will make you feel better, but who could she talk to? She thought to herself, who would have both sides of the story without a problem.

"I know just who to go to." She said as she got up and prepared herself. She knocked at the door and was met with a cheerful smile.

"Krystal sweety! What are you doing here?" Vixy asked her.

"Well umm…. I just wanted to talk." "Come right in then! I have tea ready now, do you want some?" She nodded and sat down at the table as Vixy brought them both a cup.

"So what do you need darling?" She said as she sipped her tea.

"Uh well. It's Fox. He…..he just seems so different for the past week, and even a little bit longer." Vixy raised an eyebrow in curiosity.

"Why, what do you mean exactly?" Krystal just sighed. "I….I don't know. It just seems so different after a few months. He just…. left. He left without saying goodbye or anything."

Vixy just laughed to herself a little. Krystal was confused, she thought Vixy would understand.

"Krystal honey, you remind me so much of myself when I was younger. Fox feels the same way about you that he did when you two first started out. Now your feelings for each other are just being put to the test." Krystal was still confused

"I…. I still don't understand." Vixy laughed a little more.

"Krystal honey, you really like him don't you?" She nodded to the older vixen. "Then don't let this time apart from him change that. Just because he isn't here in body doesn't mean he's gone from you. Don't you think I feel the same about James?"

Krystal had never thought about that. "Yeah, but you guys are married, it's different." Vixy just shook her head and laughed even more.

"Oh darling you have so much to learn. It's not as different as you think. You care about him and want to be around him, don't you?" She asked as Krystal nodded her head. "Well funny story, you see I feel the same way about James. See? We're not so different after all are we?"

Krystal laughed a little. "You're right Vixy. Thanks so much for this." Vixy nodded as Krystal got up. "Krystal honey wait." She turned back to Vixy.

"If it makes you feel better, I know that James and Fox are having the same conversation right now." Krystal felt a tear of happiness form as she walked back over to her second mother and gave her a hug.

"I love you Vixy" She said as she hugged her.

"I love you too honey, you're like the daughter I never had." Krystal went back to her home with a new look on her situation.

"I wonder what I'll do when he comes back. I wonder when that will be."


End file.
